ABSTRACT The Central African treefrog Leptopelis brevirostris has a characteristically short and vertically truncated snout, a tooth-like process at the centre of the mandible, and unlike most species of Leptopelis, eats terrestrial gastropods. Two morphologically similar species (L. crystallinoron and L. brevipes) have been described in sympatry with L. brevirostris, each on the basis of a single female specimen and then provisionally synonymised with L. brevirostris by subsequent authors. Here we re-examine the holotypes of the three species and collect both genetic (mtDNA and 25 nuDNA loci) and morphological data across the range of L. brevirostris and its sister species L. notatus to test the hypothesis that L. brevirostris is comprised of more than one species. We found that the diagnostic characters for L. crystallinoron (lacking a visible tympanum and having larger vomerine teeth in contact) and L. brevipes (distinctive dorsal colouration) are also present in L. brevirostris and L. notatus. Furthermore, these characters vary among individuals that share the same mitochondrial haplotype and that occur within a single locality, including the type locality of L. crystallinoron. Although all samples from the type locality of L. crystallinoron form a distinct mitochondrial lineage relative to L. brevipes and L. brevirostris, our analysis of 25 nuclear loci does not support this relationship and instead suggests that this mitochondrial divergence reflects phylogeographic structure across the range of L. brevirostris, including samples from the type localities of L. crystallinoron and L. brevipes. By contrast, the mitochondrial divergence between L. notatus and L. brevirostris is strongly supported in the nuDNA dataset. Consequently, we recognise both L. brevipes and L. crystallinoron as synonyms of L. brevirostris. Given the extensive variation in the colour pattern, the tympanic membrane, and the size and shape of the vomerine teeth among L. brevirostris collected from one locality, variation in these traits should be interpreted with caution in taxonomic research on Leptopelis.

中文翻译：

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Leptopelis brevirostris 的形态和遗传变异包括来自加蓬的鲜为人知的树蛙 Leptopelis crystallinoron 和来自赤道几内亚比奥科岛的 Leptopelis brevipes

摘要 中非树蛙 Leptopelis brevirostris 有一个典型的短而垂直截断的鼻子，在下颌骨中心有一个牙齿状突起，与大多数 Leptopelis 物种不同，它吃陆生腹足动物。两种形态相似的物种（L. crystallinoron 和 L. brevipes）已被描述为与 L. brevirostris 相似，每个物种都基于单个雌性标本，随后被随后的作者暂时与 L. brevirostris 同义。在这里，我们重新检查了三个物种的正模标本，并收集了 L. brevirostris 及其姊妹物种 L. notatus 范围内的遗传（mtDNA 和 25 个 nuDNA 基因座）和形态学数据，以检验 L. brevirostris 由以下组成的假设不止一种。我们发现 L 的诊断特征。在 L. brevirostris 和 L. notatus 中也存在结晶体（缺乏可见的鼓膜并具有较大的犁齿接触）和 L. brevipes（独特的背部着色）。此外，这些特征在共享相同线粒体单倍型并且发生在单个地点（包括 L.crystallinoron 的类型地点）内的个体之间有所不同。尽管来自 L.crystallinoron 类型位置的所有样本相对于 L. brevipes 和 L. brevirostris 形成了独特的线粒体谱系，但我们对 25 个核位点的分析不支持这种关系，而是表明这种线粒体差异反映了整个范围内的系统地理学结构L. brevirostris，包括来自 L.crystallinoron 和 L. brevipes 类型区的样本。相比之下，L.之间的线粒体差异。notatus 和 L. brevirostris 在 nuDNA 数据集中得到强烈支持。因此，我们将 L. brevipes 和 L. crystallinoron 视为 L. brevirostris 的同义词。鉴于从一个地区收集的 L. brevirostris 的颜色模式、鼓膜以及犁齿的大小和形状存在广泛差异，因此在对钩端藻进行分类学研究时应谨慎解释这些特征的变异。