#rhombophryne

I spent my day working on describing new species of Rhombophryne, the ‘diamond frogs’ of Madagascar. I’ve been working on these frogs since 2013, and have described more than half of the currently known species, but there are still so many species to describe. 

Here, I am working on the second most important part of the description of one new species: the holotype description. This involves very careful examination and description of the features of the one specimen that ‘carries’ the name of the species. As you can see, I talk with myself a lot while I am doing this. I’m noting aloud features that are substantially different from other species, or things that are worth describing. I find this quite the best way to keep the features in my mind while I am looking at a lot of things at once—but of course it only works while I have my office to myself.

The *most* important part of every species description is the diagnosis. This includes the list of features that are the ones that ‘define’ your new species, and in many cases also the way that it can be told apart from all the other relevant species. In the case of the paper I am working on here, that is the last thing I will be doing for each species, as it will depend on having everything described and ready beforehand.

frogs-from-bogs:

Rhombophryne botabotabyMark Scherz

‘botabota’ is a Malagasy word meaning 'fat’. This round boy is pretty round.

I am thrilled to introduce Madagascar’s newest frog species, Rhombophryne ellae! This new diamond frog is presumed to be endemic to Montagne d’Ambre National Park in the far north of Madagascar. Its uniquely orange legs and large black hip markings set it apart from all other Rhombophryne species so far. I have the great pleasure of dedicating the new species to my partner, Dr Ella Z. Lattenkamp, in appreciation of her support of my work, and celebration of her recent PhD defence! You can read about the new species and get a link to the #OA paper published in Zoosystematics and Evolution on my blog at http://www.markscherz.com/archives/4598 (link in bio)
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#frogs #Madagascar #newspecies #diamondfrog #Rhombophryne #science #taxonomy #systematics #research #herpetology #wildlife #animals #zoology #Microhylidae #rainforest #frog #diversity #vertebrate #Malagasy #amphibian #beautiful #cute #animal #amphibians #naturalworld #herping #fieldwork #wildlifephotography #species
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