Three new species of frogs of the genus Pristimantis (Anura, Strabomantidae) with a redefinition of the P. lacrimosus species group

By

Ron, Santiago R.
Carrión, Julio
Caminer, Marcel
Sagredo, Yerka
Navarrete, María
Ortega, Jhael
Varela-Jaramillo, Andrea
Maldonado, Gabriela
Terán, Claudia

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

993

Pages

121--155

Subjects

Amazon , Andes , Brachycephaloidea , Morphology , phalanges , Phylogeny , Pristimantis amaguanae sp. nov , Pristimantis nankints sp. nov , Pristimantis romeroae sp. nov , subarticular tubercles , systematics , taxonomy , Terrarana

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.993.53559

 

Abstract

A new phylogeny for thePristimantis lacrimosusspecies group is presented, its species content reviewed, and three new species described from the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. Our phylogeny includes, for the first time, samples ofP. aureolineatus,P. bromeliaceus, andP. lacrimosus. The morphology of hyperdistal subarticular tubercles is also assessed among 21 species ofPristimantis. TheP. lacrimosusspecies group is composed of 36 species distributed in the Chocó, Guiana, and Amazon regions of tropical South America with a single species reaching Central America. Ancestral area reconstruction indicates that, despite its high diversity in the Amazon region, theP. lacrimosusgroup originated in the Pacific basin, Chocó region of Ecuador and Colombia.Pristimantis amaguanaesp. nov.is most closely related toP. bromeliaceus. It differs fromP. bromeliaceusby being smaller, having transversal dark bands in the hindlimbs (absent or faint inP. bromeliaceus) and the absence of discoidal fold (present inP. bromeliaceus).Pristimantis nankintssp. nov.andP. romeroaesp. nov.are part of a clade of predominantly light-green frogs that includesP. acuminatus,P. enigmaticus,P. limoncochensis, andP. omeviridis.Pristimantis nankintssp. nov.andP. romeroaesp. nov.can be distinguished from all of them by the presence of a dark dorsolateral stripe that borders a light green band on a green background. Hyperdistal tubercles are present in all examined species of theP. lacrimosusspecies group and its sister clade. Species with hyperdistal tubercles are characterized by having relatively long terminal phalanges and narrow T-shaped expansion at the end of the terminal phalange. We discuss the phylogenetic distribution of these characters and their potential diagnostic significance.