A new genus and species of toad from Mount Kenya illuminates East African montane biogeography

Discoveries of new species can greatly impact our understanding of the biogeography of a region. For example, groups of amphibian lineages restricted to the Afrotemperate forests of Tanzania and Ethiopia are indicative of a shared biogeographical history of this highly discontinuous ecosystem. Curiously, many of these lineages are absent from the geographically intermediate Kenyan highlands. This phylogeographical interval is generally considered to be attributable to the younger, volcanic origins of much of the Kenyan highlands, and thus an amphibian fauna that is derived largely from recent colonization events rather than comprising older relicts. Contrasting with this view, here we report on the discovery of a single specimen of Bufonidae (true toad) from Mount Kenya. The specimen belongs to a species new to science and deserves recognition at the generic level owing to its notable molecular phylogenetic and morphological divergences from other described taxa. It is most closely related to the Tanzanian genera Churamiti and Nectophrynoides. The discovery of this new toad and its association with Afrotemperate species is significant because it links Kenya to the biogeographically more ancient Tanzanian mountains and supports the potential longevity of the Afrotemperate forests in Kenya. Broadly, it highlights that we are still adding major branches to the phylogeny of anurans.

The Sino-Africa Joint Research Center (SAJOREC), Chinese Academy of Sciences–Kunming Institute of Zoology (CAS-KIZ) funded the fieldwork by P.K.M. and D.V.W. (SAJC201611). H.C.L. was funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España (IJC2018-035780-I). S.P.L. thanks the Natural History Museum SIF funding for supporting travel and molecular consumable costs.

Peer reviewed