Abstract
We describe through integrative taxonomy a new Amazonian species of leaf-litter toad of the Rhinella margaritifera species group. The new species inhabits open lowland forest in southwest Amazonia in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. It is closely related to a Bolivian species tentatively identified as Rhinella cf. paraguayensis. Both the new species and R. paraguayensis share an uncommon breeding strategy among their Amazonian congeners: Each breeds in moderate to large rivers instead of small streams or ponds formed by rainwater. The new species is easily differentiated from other members of the R. margaritifera species group by having a strongly developed bony protrusion at the angle of the jaw, a snout-vent length of 63.4-84.7 mm in females and 56.3-72.3 mm in males, well-developed supratympanic crests with the proximal portion shorter than the parotoid gland in lateral view, a divided distal subarticular tubercle on finger III, and multinoted calls composed of groups of 7-9 pulsed notes and a dominant frequency of 1,012-1,163 Hz. Recent studies have shown that the upper Madeira Basin harbors a megadiverse fauna of anurans, including several candidate species. This is the first member of the R. margaritifera species group to be described from this region in recent years, and at least two additional unnamed species await formal description.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 967-986 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Copeia |
| Volume | 108 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 28 Dec 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
Funding
We thank The Wildlife Conservation Program of Santo Antonio Energia for supporting fieldwork. We are indebted to Marison Prestes, Rafael de Fraga, Pedro I. Simões, Jussara Dayrell, Igor L. Kaefer, Maria C. de Araújo, Edivaldo F. Vasconcelos, and Laudelino S. Vasconcelos for assistance with fieldwork; to Robson Ávila and Christine Strüssmann for sharing the call recordings of R. paraguayensis; to Jiˇrí Moravec and Martin Jansen for sharing photographs of R. exostosica and R. cf. paraguayensis, respectively; to Fernanda Werneck and Ariane Silva for access to the INPAH collection. Holotype photographs were taken by using equipment acquired with a grant from PRONEX-FAPEAM (ed. 016/ 2006, proc. 1437/2007) provided to José Albertino Rafael. Laboratory work was carried out at the QCAZ museum and was funded by a grant from SENESCYT (Arca de Noé Initiative; S. R. Ron and O. Torres-Carvajal principal investigators). Specimens were collected under IBAMA/ ICMBio/RAN permits (02001.000508/2008-99; 1337-1). Protocols of collection and animal care follow the Conselho Federal de Biologia resolution number 148/2012. Miquéias Ferrão received a fellowship from CNPq (PDJ process 154325/ 2018-0) and an Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. This study is published by a grant from the Wetmore Colles Fund.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Museum of Comparative Zoology | |
| Wetmore Colles Fund | |
| Harvard University | |
| Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico | 154325/ 2018-0 |
| Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación |
