A new squeaker frog (Arthroleptidae: Arthroleptis) from the mountains of Cameroon and Nigeria

A new species of squeaker frog (genus Arthroleptis) is described from the northern mountains of the Cameroon Volcanic Line, a species-rich region within the West African biodiversity hotspot. This new species is associated with human-altered landscapes, including farms and grasslands, and is known from the highland areas near Bamenda, including Mt. Oku, Cameroon, as well as the Obudu and Mambilla Plateaus of eastern Nigeria. The known distribution suggests that it may eventually also be found throughout the Acha- Tugi Ridge that traverses the Cameroon–Nigeria border. More than 40 years ago, a specimen from one of these populations was recognized as probably representing a new species, but no further work was published on this material. We posit that the taxonomy of this new species has proven problematic because of morphological similarity to Arthroleptis poecilonotus. Although in some ways resembling A. poecilonotus, a molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial gene sequence ...