Aquatic zebras? The tadpoles of the Madagascan treefrog Boophis schuboeae Glaw & Vences 2002 compared to those of B. ankaratra Andreone 1993

Abstract

The treefrogs Boophis schuboeae Glaw & Vences 2002 and B. ankaratra Andreone 1993 occur at different elevations in the mountain rainforest of central Madagascar and are considered to be sibling species within the Boophis albipunctatus group. Adults within this group differ in call characteristics and in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene but are very similar to one another in external features. The key to identifying sibling species can also be morphological characters of other life stages. Therefore, we analysed the morphology and ecology of larval stages to distinguish between these closely-related species and we discuss the unusual pigmentation pattern of B. schuboeae in the context of predator avoidance