Overview
- The study in Vertebrate Zoology formally names Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis, N. uhehe, and N. saliensis.
- Researchers used museomics to extract genetic data from historical specimens, resolving lineages long lumped under N. viviparus.
- Females are viviparous, carrying internally fertilized embryos and giving birth to fully formed toadlets, a mode seen in under 1% of frogs and toads.
- The species occupy small, isolated forest patches in the Eastern Arc Mountains, where deforestation, mining, and climate change threaten their survival.
- Conservation context includes related species already extinct in the wild or unobserved since 2003, reinforcing the need to protect multiple specific forest areas.