An integrative approach to infer systematic relationships and define species groups in the shrub frog genus Raorchestes, with description of five new species from the Western Ghats, India.

ABSTRACT: The genus Raorchestes is a large radiation of Old World tree frogs for which the Western Ghats in Peninsular India is the major center for origin and diversification. Extensive studies on this group during the past two decades have resolved long-standing taxonomic confusions and uncovered several new species, resulting in a four-fold increase in the number of known Raorchestes frogs from this region. Our ongoing research has revealed another five new species in the genus, formally described as Raorchestes drutaahu sp. nov., Raorchestes kakkayamensis sp. nov., Raorchestes keirasabinae sp. nov., Raorchestes sanjappai sp. nov., and Raorchestes vellikkannan sp. nov., all from the State of Kerala in southern Western Ghats. Based on new collection

SUBMITTER: Garg S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7936570 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature