Account
What the sources say about this taxon, as written.
diagnosis · 
Plazi
Diagnosis .— Mantidacytlus georgei sp. nov. is a member of the M. fergusoni clade as revealed by the phylogenomic analysis, and splits from a basal node of this clade. See Table 4 for a list of diagnostic morphological characters. The combination of small to moderate body size in males (SVL up to 28–31 mm ), moderately tubercular dorsal skin, large tympanum size in males (13– 15% of SVL), absence of white spots on flanks, presence of a white marking on the snout tip of many individuals (especially males), and advertisement call consisting of a single, relatively long and pulsed note distinguishes M. georgei sp. nov. from most species of the other clades ( Table 4 ). Two species from the M. ulcerosus clade ( M. ulcerosus and M. bellyi ) can be morphologically similar, but they occur in the Sambirano and North West regions, and exhibit higher pulse repetition rates in advertisement calls ( Table 4 ). M. georgei sp. nov. shows similarities to species of the M. betsileanus clade but in general it has a more tubercular dorsum and differs from most of these by advertisement call structure ( Table 4 ); furthermore, sympatry with species of the M. betsileanus clade is rare, and is only known from Betampona where the new species co-occurs with M. betsileanus . Within the M. fergusoni clade, it strongly differs from M. fergusoni in advertisement call structure, and by the more common presence of a white marking on the snout tip. For a distinction from other new species in the M. fergusoni clade, see below. A full list of molecular diagnostic sites in the 16S gene of M. georgei sp. nov. in pairwise comparisons to all other Brygoomantis species is provided as Supplementary appendix.
description · Plazi
Calls.— The advertisement call of the holotype of M. georgei recorded on 29 February 2004 a few km north of Toamasina , 25.2°C air temperature ( Vences et al. 2006 : CD2, track 66), consisted of a long to very long, regularly pulsed note ( Fig. 52 ). Notes exhibited slight amplitude modulation, with call energy decreasing towards the note’s end. Numerical parameters of 11 analysed calls were as follows: call duration (= note duration) 1425–3206 ms (2532.7 ± 527.4 ms); 26–64 pulses per note (46.9 ± 11.3); pulse duration 5–12 ms (7.9 ± 2.1 ms); pulse repetition rate within notes 12.7–24.4 pulses/s (18.1 ± 3.3); dominant frequency 1227–1722 Hz (1483 ± 184 Hz), with a second peak of almost identical energy at around 2970–3040 Hz; prevalent bandwidth 900–3400 Hz; call repetition rate not possible to identify with the available recordings. Calls recorded on 24 February 2004 , 21:00 h, at Maroantsetra, 24.1°C air temperature ( Vences et al. 2006 : CD2, track 65), very likely correspond to M. georgei and generally agreed with the calls described above, apart from somewhat higher pulse repetition rate and slightly higher number of pulses per note. Numerical parameters of six analysed calls were as follows: call duration (= note duration) 2470–3149 ms (2826.8 ± 278.7 ms); 51– 85 pulses per note (71.7 ± 14.9); pulse duration 5–10 ms (7.9 ± 0.9 ms); pulse repetition rate within note 17.8–32.6 pulses/s (25.0 ± 4.9); dominant frequency 1260–1345 Hz (1287 ± 34 Hz); prevalent bandwidth 900–3800 Hz; call repetition rate not possible to identify with the available recording. Additional calls have been recorded at Betampona and present an overall similar structure to the previous descriptions for the species ( Rosa et al. 2011 : track 35). Tadpoles.— The tadpole of this species has not been described.
biology_ecology · Plazi
Natural history .—Both near Toamasina and Maroantsetra, calling males were found at night from the shores of small streams and swampy areas next to ricefields, in heavily degraded secondary forest habitat. In Betampona and Ivoloina this species is commontly found along stream banks. In Ivoloina M. georgei is the only Brygoomantis species that can be found in the area, while in Betampona it occurs (often syntopically) with four Brygoomantis species. In Betampona it has been recorded in all campsites except Sahabefoza and Sahembendrana (which correspond to the campsites presenting the most pristine conditions).
description · Plazi
Identity and justification .—This lineage of the M.fergusoni cladehaspreviouslybeenconsideredasconfirmedcandidate species M. sp. 36 by Vieites et al. (2009) and M. sp. Ca36 by Perl et al. (2014) . It was depicted as ‘ Mantidactylus sp. aff. betsileanus “ Toamasina ”’ by Glaw and Vences (2007) . It was additionally referred to as Mantidactylus sp. aff. betsileanus [Ca AY848260 ] by Rosa et al. (2011 , 2012 ). It consists of frogs that are bioacoustically somewhat similar to M. betsileanus , but strongly differ in genetics and in various aspects of morphology and advertisement calls ( Table 4 ). Mantidactylus georgei sp. nov. forms a clade with another lineage from Maroantsetra considered as confirmed candidate species M. sp. 35 by Vieites et al. (2009) and M. sp. Ca35 by Perl et al. (2014) , which we here consider to be a deep conspecific lineage. Due to the high genetic divergence and distinct bioacoustic differentiation of M. georgei sp. nov. to other species in the M. fergusoni clade, its status as distinct species is out of question.