Overview
- A peer-reviewed study in Vertebrate Zoology formally describes Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis, N. uhehe, and N. saliensis.
- The toads are viviparous with internal fertilization, giving birth to fully formed froglets in a reproductive mode found in fewer than 1% of frog species.
- Researchers documented exceptionally large broods, including counts of more than 100 embryos in a single female.
- The species are confined to small, fragmented forests in the Eastern Arc Mountains, where deforestation, mining, and climate change pose serious risks, according to coauthors.
- The team combined museomics of specimens collected over 120 years ago with comparative morphology across museum collections, involving institutions in Denmark, Germany, Tanzania, and elsewhere.