A new glassfrog of the genus Centrolene (Amphibia, Centrolenidae) from the Subandean Kutukú Cordillera, eastern Ecuador

By

Ron, Santiago R.
García, Dominike
Brito-Zapata, David
Reyes-Puig, Carolina
Figueroa-Coronel, Elías
Cisneros-Heredia, Diego F.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024-07-08

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

100

Pages

923--939

Subjects

Andes , Anura , Centrolene huilensis , Centrolene kutuku sp. nov. , Centrolene muelleri , Centrolene zarza , Cóndor Cordillera , Cordillera del Cóndor , Cordillera del Kutukú , Kutukú Cordillera , new species , nueva especie , phylogenetic relationships , relaciones filogenéticas , Taxonomía , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.116350

 

Abstract

We describe a new species of Centrolene from the Subandean Cordillera of Kutukú in southeastern Ecuador. The new species differs from all other glassfrogs by the combination of the following characters: presence of processes of vomers but without vomerine teeth; humeral spines in males; dorsum green with light green dots and without dark marks; dorsal skin with abundant tubercles; all visceral peritonea translucent (except for pericardium); and small body size (snout-vent length 21.5–21.9 mm in adult males). The new species is sister to Centrolene camposi from the Western Cordillera of the Andes of southwestern Ecuador, and together they form a clade with C. condor from the Subandean Cóndor Cordillera in southeastern Ecuador. Our time tree suggests that the new species originated at the end of the Pliocene. In addition, we present new information for C. zarza, expanding its geographic range across the southeastern Andes and the Kutukú and Cóndor cordilleras, amending its definition and diagnosis, and offering new information on its natural history and extinction risk. We also discuss the taxonomic status of Ecuadorian populations reported as C. huilensis and conclude that they are C. muelleri based on their close phylogenetic relationships and morphological similarity to samples of C. muelleri from Peru. Centrolene huilensis is a valid species and not closely related to C. muelleri.