Abstract
A new frog in the genus Pristimantis is described from a cloud forest on the western flanks of the Cordillera del Cóndor and eastern Andean slopes in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, southeastern of Ecuador. We inferred its phylogenetic position using DNA sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear genes. The new species is strongly supported as part of a clade that includes P. ardalonychus, P. cajamarcensis, P. ceuthospilus, P. chalceus, P. minutulus, P. luteolateralis, P. parvillus, P. ockendeni, P. unistrigatus, and P. walkeri. It can be distinguished from all other species from Cordillera del Cóndor and congeneric species by the unique combination of the following characters: (1) iris light blue with black reticulations; (2) skin of dorsum finely shagreen with scattered pustular tubercles and absence of dorsal folds; (3) tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus visible; (4) snout rounded in dorsal and lateral view; (5) upper eyelid bearing two or three enlarged subconical tubercles; (6) cranial crest absent; (7) males lacking vocal sac and slits; and (8) venter uniformly bright red, light red, salmon or orange. The new species is most closely related to P. ardalonychus, P. cajamarcensis, P. ceuthospilus, P. ockendeni and P. unistrigatus. We consider the new species to be Endangered following IUCN criteria because it has been severely affected by large scale open-pit mining in some localities. Currently, the amphibian fauna of the Cordillera del Cóndor and nearby protected areas are threatened by large–scale copper and gold mining projects with devastating effects on ~20 species, including several undescribed ones.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 447-466 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Zootaxa |
| Volume | 4353 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 24 Nov 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:Copyright © 2017 Magnolia Press.
Funding
We are grateful to M. E. Barragan–Paladines, K. Garzon–Tello (FHGO), M. Yanez–Muñoz and C. Reyes–Puig (DHMECN) for allowing access to the collections under their care. Laboratory work was funded by a grant from SENESCYT (Arca de Noé Initiative; S. R. Ron and O. Torres-Carvajal principal investigators). We thank J. M. Padial and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments that improved significantly our manuscript. We also thank to A. Achig, D. Almeida, M. Alcocer, F. Ayala, A. Barahona, M. Bustos, H. Cadena, D. Chungadro, D. Hurtado, E. Nursirquia, J. Pinto, and S. Valverde for field assistance. We are indebted to J. Brito, for allowing us to use the call recording of Pristimantis yantzaza, and to M. Pérez and J. Brito for allowing us to use some of their pictures. This biological collection was made with financial support from the Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Corporacion Simbioe, and Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad. The research authorization (N° 002–IC–FAU/FLO–DPZCH/MAE, N° 005–IC–FAU/FLO–DPZCH–MA, N° 006–DBAP–RLZCH/MA, N° 0011-IC-FAU/FLO–DPZCH–MA, N° 012–IC–FAU/FLO–DPZCH–MA) was issued by Ministerio del Ambiente, Ecuador. We are grateful to M. E. Barragan–Paladines, K. Garzon–Tello (FHGO), M. Yanez–Muñoz and C. Reyes–Puig (DHMECN) for allowing access to the collections under their care. Laboratory work was funded by a grant from SENESCYT (Arca de Noé Initiative; S. R. Ron and O. Torres-Carvajal principal investigators). We thank J. M. Padial and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments that improved significantly our manuscript. We also thank to A. Achig, D. Almeida, M. Alcocer, F. Ayala, A. Barahona, M. Bustos, H. Cadena, D. Chungadro, D. Hurtado, E. Nursirquia, J. Pinto, and S. Valverde for field assistance. We are indebted to J. Brito, for allowing us to use the call recording of Pristimantis yantzaza, and to M. Pérez and J. Brito for allowing us to use some of their pictures. This biological collection was made with financial support from the Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Corporacion Simbioe, and Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad. The research authorization (N° 002–IC–FAU/FLO–DPZCH/MAE, N° 005–IC–FAU/FLO–DPZCH–MA, N° 006– DBAP–RLZCH/MA, N° 0011-IC-FAU/FLO–DPZCH–MA, N° 012–IC–FAU/FLO–DPZCH–MA) was issued by Ministerio del Ambiente, Ecuador.
| Funders |
|---|
| Corporacion Simbioe |
| Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés |
| Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad |
| Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales |
| Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación |
| Fundación WOP |
Keywords
- Bioacoustics
- Conservation
- Pristimantis yantzaza sp. nov
- Systematics
- Taxonomy
