Stumpffia

Stumpffia is a genus of microhylid frogs that are endemic to Madagascar.^[1] They are mostly brown frogs that typically live among leaf litter. S. contumelia has a snout–vent length of about 8–9 mm (0.31–0.35 in), making it one of the world's smallest frogs, and several others in the genus are only slightly larger.^[2][3] The largest species is no more than 28 mm (1.1 in).^[2]

Stumpffia
Unidentified Stumpffia in Marojejy
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Microhylidae
Subfamily:	Cophylinae
Genus:	Stumpffia Boettger, 1881
Type species
Stumpffia psologlossa Boettger, 1881
Diversity
41 species

The majority of the species have only been described since 2010. Each species has a small range and many are seriously threatened.^[2][4]

Taxonomy

Stumpffia was first described from the single species Stumpffia psologlossa Boettger, 1881, based on a single specimen collected on Nosy Be, a large island off the northwest coast of Madagascar, by Antonio Stumpff.^[5] By 2017, 15 species were recognised. In late 2017, a major revision of the genus was published.^[2] This study used integrative taxonomy, i.e. the combination of multiple different datasets, to delimit and describe new species: it combined morphological, morphometric, chromatic (color), bioacoustic (voice), and genetic data to provide new data on the 15 described species of Stumpffia, and describe a further 26 new species.^[2]

Debate on synonymy with Rhombophryne

The genus Stumpffia was proposed to be a junior synonym of Rhombophryne in 2016,^[6] but this proposal was disputed and reversed by authors of a subsequent study, on the basis of their reciprocal monophyly and consistent morphological differences between the two genera that allow them to be distinguished.^[7] The latter study established a new genus, Anilany for "Stumpffia" helenae, a species that would otherwise have rendered Stumpffia paraphyletic, and which is morphologically and genetically highly distinct from any species of Rhombophryne or Stumpffia.^[7]

This debate was continued in 2017, with one group of authors continuing to advocate for synonymy of these two genera plus Anilany,^[8] while the other group of authors continued to advocate for separate treatment of these genera based on their monophyly and morphological distinction allowing them to be distinguished with comparative ease.^[9] There was a temporary impasse, wherein the Amphibian Species of the World database continued to adopt the single-genus taxonomy, and as a result, so too did the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species and other online databases (e.g. iNaturalist) that draw from that resource. Meanwhile, AmphibiaWeb continued to use the three-genus taxonomy, as did the taxonomists working on cophyline systematics,^[2][10][11] and other groups working more broadly on frog evolution and taxonomy.^[12][13]

In March 2019, a new genus, Mini, was described for the miniaturised frogs previously confused with Stumpffia that are more closely related to Plethodontohyla.^[14] Evidence in this study, as well as that presented in a paper by Na Tu et al. in 2018,^[13] helped to clarify the taxonomic situation, and the Amphibian Species of the World database reverted to treating Rhombophryne, Anilany, and Stumpffia as valid genera.^[15]

Species

There are over 40 currently recognised species:^{[1][2][16][17]}

• Stumpffia achillei Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia analamaina Klages et al., 2013
• Stumpffia analanjirofo Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia angeluci Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia be Köhler, Vences, D'Cruze, and Glaw, 2010
• Stumpffia betampona Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia bishopi Rakotoarison, Glaw, Rasolonjatovo, Razafindraibe, Vences, and Scherz, 2022
• Stumpffia contumelia Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia davidattenboroughi Rakotoarison et al., 2017, named after David Attenborough
• Stumpffia diutissima Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia dolchi Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia edmondsi Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia froschaueri Crottini et al., 2020, named after Christoph Froschauer
• Stumpffia fusca Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia garraffoi Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia gimmeli Glaw and Vences, 1992
• Stumpffia grandis Guibé, 1974
• Stumpffia hara Köhler, Vences, D'Cruze, and Glaw, 2010
• Stumpffia huwei Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia iharana Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia jeannoeli Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia kibomena Glaw et al., 2015^[16]
• Stumpffia larinki Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia lynnae Mullin, Rakotomanga, Dawson, Glaw, Rakotoarison, Orozco-terWengel, and Scherz, 2022
• Stumpffia madagascariensis Mocquard, 1895
• Stumpffia makira Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia maledicta Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia mamitika Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia megsoni Köhler, Vences, D'Cruze, and Glaw, 2010
• Stumpffia meikeae Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia miery Ndriantsoa et al., 2013
• Stumpffia miovaova Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia nigrorubra Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia obscoena Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia pardus Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia psologlossa Boettger, 1881
• Stumpffia pygmaea Vences and Glaw, 1991
• Stumpffia roseifemoralis Guibé, 1974
• Stumpffia sorata Rakotoarison et al., 2017
• Stumpffia spandei Rakotoarison, et al., 2017
• Stumpffia staffordi Köhler, Vences, D'Cruze, and Glaw, 2010
• Stumpffia tetradactyla Vences and Glaw, 1991
• Stumpffia tridactyla Guibé, 1975
• Stumpffia yanniki Rakotoarison et al., 2017

The taxon Stumpffia helenae'' Vallan, 2000 was transferred to Anilany^[7] and therefore does not appear on this list.