Cryptic diversity in metropolis: confirmation of a new leopard frog species (Anura: Ranidae) from New York City and surrounding Atlantic coast regions.

ABSTRACT: We describe a new cryptic species of leopard frog from the New York City metropolitan area and surrounding coastal regions. This species is morphologically similar to two largely parapatric eastern congeners, Rana sphenocephala and R. pipiens. We primarily use bioacoustic and molecular data to characterize the new species, but also examine other lines of evidence. This discovery is unexpected in one of the largest and most densely populated urban parts of the world. It also demonstrates that new vertebrate species can still be found periodically even in well-studied locales rarely associated with undocumented biodiversity. The new species typically occurs in expansive open-canopied wetlands interspersed with upland patches, but centuries of loss and impact to these habitats give some cause

SUBMITTER: Feinberg JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4212910 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature