![\"Nectophrynoides](\"https:\/\/cdn.sci.news\/images\/enlarge13\/image_14339e-Nectophrynoides-luhomeroensis.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNectophrynoides luhomeroensis, adult in life. Image credit: Thrane et al., doi: 10.3897\/vz.75.e167008.<\/p>\n
The genus Nectophrynoides<\/a> belongs to the family Bufonidae<\/a> and, until now, consisted of 13 recognized species that are endemic to moist forests and grasslands in Tanzania.<\/p>\n Commonly called tree toads, members of Nectophrynoides exhibit viviparous reproduction, a trait that is extremely rare among frogs.<\/p>\n All species of Nectophrynoides are found in the Eastern Arc Mountains, except Nectophrynoides viviparus, which is also found in the adjacent Southern Highlands of Tanzania.<\/p>\n \u201cThe three new species of frogs belong to an unusual group of African toads in the genus Nectophrynoides,\u201d said Dr. Christian Thrane from the University of Copenhagen and colleagues.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of laying eggs that hatch into tadpoles, the female tree toads carry their offspring inside their bodies and give birth to fully formed, tiny toads.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis makes them among the very few amphibians in the world capable of internal fertilization and true live birth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s common knowledge that frogs grow from tadpoles \u2014 it\u2019s one of the classic metamorphosis paradigms in biology,\u201d said Dr. Mark D. Scherz from the Natural History Museum Denmark.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the nearly 8,000 frog species actually have a wide variety of reproductive modes, many of which don\u2019t closely resemble that famous story.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnly a handful of frog species from South America and Southeast Asia have developed similar strategies making these toads a rare case in the animal kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLive-bearing is exceptionally rare among frogs and toads, practiced by less than 1% of frogs species, making these new species exceptionally interesting,\u201d said Dr. H. Christoph Liedtke, a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council.<\/p>\n In the study, the authors for 257 specimens assigned to the Nectophrynoides viviparous complex.<\/p>\n Based on their results, they identified three new species: Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis, Nectophrynoides uhehe, and Nectophrynoides saliensis.<\/p>\n \u201cThe description of three new species brings the number of known viviparous anurans to 20 species worldwide, of which 16 species belong to the genus Nectophrynoides,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe distinctive reproduction and biology that these bufonids exhibit highlight the potential functional loss, if these species go extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk of losing these species and their contribution to functional diversity in amphibians should be reasons to increase conservation efforts in order to protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMore surveys are needed to fully understand the behavior and ecology of these remarkable arboreal viviparous bufonids.\u201d<\/p>\n