Three new species of Callulina (Amphibia: Anura: Brevicipitidae) highlight local endemism and conservation plight of Africa's Eastern Arc forests

Material ascribed to the genus Callulina from north-east Tanzania and south-east Kenya is assessed. Three newspecies of Callulina are described from the North (Callulina laphami sp. nov.) and South (Callulina shengenasp. nov. and Callulina stanleyi sp. nov.) Pare Mountains in Tanzania. The species are diagnosed based onmorphological, acoustic, and molecular data. A new key to the species of Callulina is provided. Based on aninterpretation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, we suggest that the threespecies will qualify as critically endangered, because of their small distributions and the ongoing threat to theirhabitat. We reveal the high local endemism of Callulina in the northern part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, witheach species restricted to no more than one mountain (fragment) block. This high local endemism in Callulina isprobably widespread across the Eastern Arc, raising further conservation concern for this group of amphibians.Based on new molecular phylogenetic data for Callulina, we discuss biogeographical relationships among northeastTanzanian mountains, and evolutionary patterns in Eastern Arc breviciptids.