Leptobrachella cathaya sp. nov. Huaping Leaf Litter Toad (in English) / Huā Píng Zhǎng Tū Chán (������������in Chinese) Fig. 4 Holotype. NHMG 250615, adult male, collected by Jian Wang and Zhao-Chi Zeng on 23 June 2025 from Huaping National Nature Reserve (25.562769°N, 109.936686°E; ca. 1340 m a.s.l.), Longsheng County, Guilin City, Guangxi, China. Paratypes. Four adult males, GEP a452–454, CIB 121750 (field number: GEP a455) and a single adult female, NHMG250616, same collection data as holotype. Two adult males, NHMG 250610 –11, collected by Zhong Huang on 25 June 2025, same collection site as holotype. Etymology. The specific name is in reference to the monotypic botanic genus Cathaya Chun and Kuang, 1962. Guangxi Huaping National Nature Reserve is well known as the type locality of the endangered relict plant C. argyrophylla Chun and Kuang, 1962. We denominate the new toad species from this reserve in order to highlight the uniqueness of the flora and fauna here, also, to commemorate the contributions made by the predecessors. Diagnosis. The new species can be diagnosed from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: (1) Small body size [SVL 25.0– 27.6 mm in seven adult males, 29.2 mm in a single adult female], (2) iris bicolored, upper half brown and lower half silver, (3) tympanum distinct, (4) supratympanic line weak, black, (5) fingers with narrow lateral fringes, (6) toes with narrow lateral fringes and rudimentary webbing, (7) longitudinal ridges under toes continuous, (8) heels overlapping when adpressed, tibial-tarsal articulation reaching the region from middle to anterior corner of eye, (9) dorsal surface shagreened with numerous small tubercles, lacking skin ridges, (10) ventral surface smooth, (11) dorsum yellowish brown to dark brown, with darker brown scattered markings and orange brown pigmentation, (12) flanks with several dark spots, (13) surface of throat, chest and abdomen creamy white, with sparse irregular dark brown speckles on chest and sides of abdomen, (14) white linea musculinae present in males. Comparisons. Leptobrachella cathaya sp. nov. is a sister species to L. maoershanensis (Fig. 2). However, the new species differs from the later (Fig. 5) by its weak supratympanic line (vs. distinct), absence of skin ridges on dorsum (vs. present), and presence of lateral fringes on fingers (vs. absent). Compared with the 27 known congeners of the genus Leptobrachella occurring south of the Isthmus of Kra, by the presence of supra-axillary and ventrolateral glands, L. cathaya sp. nov. can easily be distinguished from L. arayai, L. dringi, L. fritinniens, L. gracilis, L. hamidi, L. heteropus, L. kajangensis, L. kecil, L. marmorata, L. melanoleuca, L. maura, L. picta, L. platycephala, L. sarawakensis, L. sabahmontana, and L. sola, all of which lack supra-axillary and ventrolateral glands; by its distinctly larger male body size, SVL 25.0– 27.6 mm, L. cathaya sp. nov. differs from the smaller L. baluensis (SVL 14.9–15.9 mm), L. brevicrus (SVL 17.1–17.8 mm), L. bondangensis (SVL 17.8 mm), L. fusca (SVL 16.3 mm), L. itiokai (SVL 15.2–16.7 mm), L. juliandringi (SVL 17.0– 17.2 mm), L. mjobergi (SVL 15.7–19.0 mm), L. natunae (SVL 17.6 mm), L. parva (SVL 15.0– 16.9 mm), and L. palmata (SVL 14.4–16.8 mm); and even distinctly larger than female L. serasanae (SVL 16.9 mm); by its distinctly smaller body size, SVL 25.0– 27.6 mm in males, 29.2 mm in a single female, L. cathaya sp. nov. differs from the larger L. bourreti (39.5–45.0 mm in females), L. eos (40.7 mm in female), L. sungi (48.3–52.7 mm in males, 56.7–58.9 mm in females), and L. zhangyapingi (45.8–52.5 mm in males). In having black spots on flanks, Leptobrachella cathaya sp. nov. further differs from L. aerea, L. botsfordi, L. crocea, L. eos, L. firthi, L. isos, L. pallida, L. petrops, and L. tuberosa, all of which lack black spots on flanks. In having rudimentary webbing on toes, Leptobrachella cathaya sp. nov. differs from L. aurantirosea, L. ardens, L. batxatensis, L. duyenae, L. huynhi, L. jinshaensis, L. kalonensis, L. maculosa, L. oshanensis, L. shiwandashanensis, L. tadungensis, and L. wumingensis, and L. yachangensis, all of which lack webbing on toes; and from L. pelodytoides, and L. tamdil, both of which bear wide webbing on toes. In having narrow lateral fringes on toes, the new species differs from L. applebyi, L. darongshanensis, L. kungfu, L. lateralis, L. macrops, L. melica, L. minima, L. nahangensis, L. namdongensis, L. neangi, L. nyx, L. pluvialis, L. pyrrhops, L. rowleyae, L. ventripunctata, all of which lack lateral fringes on toes; from L. fuliginosa, which bears weak fringes on the first three and base of fourth and fifth toes; from L. sinorensis, which bears weak fringes laterally on the second and third toes; from L. dong, L. dushanensis, L. graminicola, L. guinanensis, L. khasiorum, L. murphyi, L. purpurus, L. shimentaina, L. yingjiangensis, and L. yunkaiensis, all of which bear wide lateral fringes on toes; and from L. alpina, L. laui, and L. liui, all of which bear wide lateral fringes on toes in males. By the absence of skin ridges on dorsal surface, Leptobrachella cathaya sp. nov. differs from L. albomarginata, L. aspera, L. bijie, L. damingshanensis, L. dorsospina, L. korifi, L. mangshanensis, L. nokrekensis, L. phiadenensis, L. phiaoacensis, L. pingbianensis, L. purpuraventra, L. puhoatensis, L. wuhuangmontis, L. wulingensis, L. yunyangensis, L. yeae, L. xishuiensis, and L. yongshunensis, all of which bear skin ridges on dorsal surface. By the presence of narrow lateral fringes on fingers, the new species differs from L. bashaensis, L. bidoupensis, L. chishuiensis, L. dayaoshanensis, L. feii, L. flaviglandulosa, L. jinyunensis, L. niveimontis, L. shangsiensis, L. suiyangensis, L. tengchongensis, L. verrucosa, and L. weixinensis, all of which lack lateral fringes on fingers. Description of holotype. Adult male. Body size small, SVL 27.6 mm. Head length slightly larger than head width, HDW/HDL 0.84; snout slightly protruding, projecting slightly beyond margin of lower jaw; nostril closer to snout than eye; canthus rostralis gently rounded; loreal region slightly concave; interorbital space flat, internarial distance slightly larger than interorbital distance, IND/IOD 1.21; pineal ocellus absent; pupil vertical; snout length equal to eye diameter; tympanum distinct, rounded, diameter smaller than that of eye and larger than tympanum-eye distance, TMP/EYE 0.50, TEY/TMP 0.47; upper margin of tympanum in contact with supratympanic ridge; vomerine teeth absent; a single vocal sac; vocal sac openings slit-like, paired, located posterolaterally on floor of mouth, close to margins of mandible; tongue deeply notched distally; supratympanic ridge distinct, extending from posterior corner of eye to supra-axillary gland. Tips of fingers rounded, slightly swollen; relative finger lengths I

Published as part of Huang, Zhong, Zeng, Zhao-Chi, Wang, Hao-Tian, Lyu, Zhi-Tong, Huang, Han-Hui, Liu, Hong, Wang, Jian & Mo, Yun-Ming, 2026, A new species of the genus Leptobrachella (Anura, Megophryidae) from Guangxi Huaping National Nature Reserve, South China, pp. 474-496 in Zootaxa 5752 (4) on pages 485-489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5752.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/19172319