title: Three new species of spiny throated reed frogs (Anura: Hyperoliidae) from evergreen forests of Tanzania.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The East African spiny-throated reed frog complex (Hyperolius spinigularis, H. tanneri, and H. minutissimus) is comprised of morphologically similar species with highly fragmented populations across the Eastern Afromontane Region. Recent genetic evidence has supported the distinctiveness of populations suggesting a number of cryptic species. We analyse newly collected morphological data and evaluate the taxonomic distinctiveness of populations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We find three new distinct species on the basis of morphological and molecular evidence. The primary morphological traits distinguishing species within the Hyperolius spinigularis complex include the proportions and degree of spinosity of the gular flap in males and snout-urostyle length in females. Other features allow the three species to be distinguished from each other (genetics). We refine the understanding of H. minutissimus which can be found in both forest and grassland habitats of the Udzungwa Mountains, and provide more details on the call of this species. Further details on ecology are noted for all species where known.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Three new species are described and we narrow the definition and distribution of Hyperolius spinigularis and H. minutissimus in East Africa. The spiny-throated reed frogs have highly restricted distributions across the fragmented mountains of the Eastern Afromontane region. Given the newly defined and substantially narrower distributions of these spiny-throated reed frog species, conservation concerns are outlined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Biogeography Research Group, Basel, 4056, Switzerland. simon.loader@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Loader
authors.affiliation: Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, 1025 E. 57th Street, Culver Hall 402, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA. lucinda.lawson@gmail.com.|Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA. lucinda.lawson@gmail.com.|University of Cincinnati, 614 Rieveschl Hall, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA. lucinda.lawson@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lucinda P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.affiliation: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA. daniel.portik@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Portik
authors.affiliation: Tropical Biodiversity Section, Science Museo of Trento, Via della Scienza e del lavoro, 38122, Trento, Italy. mmenegon@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Menegon
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000502:physiology*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D065928:Forests; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity; D013636:Tanzania
chemical_list: D009711:Nucleotides