Title
Two new species of frogs of the genus Pristimantis from Llanganates National Park in Ecuador with comments on the regional diversity of Ecuadorian Pristimantis (Anura, Craugastoridae)
Date Issued
01 January 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Pensoft Publishers
Abstract
We describe two new species of frogs of the genus Pristimantis from the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, at Parque Nacional Llanganates. The new species are characterized by the spiny appearance typical of several species inhabiting montane forests. Pristimantis yanezi sp. n. is most similar to P. colonensis and P. incanus but differs from both in groin coloration and by having smaller tubercles on the upper eyelids, heels, and tarsus. Pristimantis llanganati sp. n. is most similar to P. eriphus and P. chloronotus. It can be distinguished from P. eriphus by the color pattern on the scapular region and by having smaller conical tubercles on the dorsum. Pristimantis chloronotus differs from P. llanganati sp. n. in having a pair of sinuous paravertebral folds. Both new species occur in a region with few amphibian collections and nothing is known about their abundance and ecology. Therefore, it is recommended to assign them to the Data Deficient Red List category. Updated figures of species richness of Pristimantis among biogeographic regions in Ecuador are also presented. Pristimantis reach their highest diversity in Montane Forests of the eastern versant of the Andes. Its species richness across regions cannot be explained by regional area, elevation, temperature, or precipitation. Political endemism in Pristimantis is higher than that of other terrestrial vertebrates.
Start page
139
End page
162
Volume
2016
Issue
593
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84970959923
Source
ZooKeys
ISSN of the container
13132989
Sponsor(s)
This investigation was supported by grants from the Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador SENESCYT, Arca de Noé Initiative, and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. The Ecuadorian Ministerio de Ambiente provided research and collection permits. We thank to E. Tapia and F. Núñez for specimen collection and D. Paucar, and F. P. Ayala for assisting access to the collection. Edgar Lehr and Alessandro Catenazzi provided helpful comments to the manuscript.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus