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Issue: Vol. 4353 No. 3: 24 Nov. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-11-24
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4353.3.3
Page range: 447–466
Abstract views: 125
PDF downloaded: 3

A new species of direct-developing frog of the genus Pristimantis (Anura: Terrarana: Craugastoridae) from Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador, with comments on threats to the anuran fauna of the region

Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Av. Amazonas 3008 y Rumipamba, Casilla 17 03 448, Quito, Ecuador. División de Herpetología, Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Calle Rumipamba 341 y Av. de los Shyris, Casilla: 17-07-8976, Quito, Ecuador.
Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Av. Amazonas 3008 y Rumipamba, Casilla 17 03 448, Quito, Ecuador. División de Herpetología, Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Calle Rumipamba 341 y Av. de los Shyris, Casilla: 17-07-8976, Quito, Ecuador.
Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, San Cayetano Alto, calle Marcelino Champagnat s/n, Loja, Ecuador.
División de Herpetología, Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Calle Rumipamba 341 y Av. de los Shyris, Casilla: 17-07-8976, Quito, Ecuador.
Fundación Herpetológica Gustavo Orcés, Av. Amazonas 3008 y Rumipamba, Casilla 17 03 448, Quito, Ecuador. Escuela de Ingeniería Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería en Geología, Minas, Petróleos y Ambiental, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Av. Universitaria s/n. Casilla: 170129.
Museo de Zoología, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Avenida 12 de Octubre 1076 y Roca, Apartado 17–01–2184, Quito, Ecuador.
Hymenoptera Pristimantis yantzaza sp. nov. bioacoustics conservation systematics taxonomy

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.

 

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