A new giant Pristimantis (Anura, Craugastoridae) from the paramos of the Podocarpus National Park, southern Ecuador.

Mario H Yánez-Muñoz,David Veintimilla-Yánez,Diego F Cisneros-Heredia,Diego Batallas

doi:10.3897/zookeys.852.24557

Abstract

A new species of frog of the genus Pristimantis is described from the paramos of the Nudo de Cajanuma, Podocarpus National Park, on the border between the provinces of Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species of Pristimantis by its large body size (snout-vent length: 50.0–50.5 mm in adult females, 34.7–42.5 mm in adult males), thick glandular skin, large warts on flanks, prominent glandular patches on head and legs, and dark brown dorsum. This new species is among the largest and stoutest Pristimantis frogs of the high Andes. It is only known from its type locality, where it occurs in paramo bambusoid meadows at elevations between 3300 and 3400 m. It is morphologically similar to Pristimantiserythros, P.farisorum, P.obmutescens, P.orcesi, P.racemus, P.simoterus, P.simoteriscus, and P.thymelensis. Notorious morphological characters present in this new species are thick glandular patches covering dorsum and limbs and porous skin texture, which are shared with P.erythros.

Highlights

Pristimantis (Jiménez de la Espada 1870) is the most diverse amphibian genus, representing nearly 8% (532 spp.) of all named anuran species worldwide (Frost 2019)
Pristimantis andinogigas sp. nov. is morphologically similar to several species formerly associated under the P. orcesi species-group (i.e., Pristimantis erythros, P. farisorum, P. obmutescens, P. orcesi, P. racemus, P. simoterus, P. simoteriscus, and P. thymelensis)
The Pristimantis orcesi species-group proposed by Lynch (1981) was found to be non-monophyletic by PintoSánchez et al (2012) and Padial et al (2014); the relationships of most species remain unknown since both studies included only two species assigned to the P. orcesi species-group (P. orcesi and P. thymelensis)

Summary

Introduction

Pristimantis (Jiménez de la Espada 1870) is the most diverse amphibian genus, representing nearly 8% (532 spp.) of all named anuran species worldwide (Frost 2019). Pristimantis from the Andes of southern Ecuador are little known; with new species frequently discovered, new distributional records revealed, collections of putatively new species deposited in museum collections, and several areas unexplored (Bustamante and Mendelson III 2008, Cisneros-Heredia et al 2009, Reyes-Puig et al 2010, 2010, 2014, 2015, Yánez-Muñoz et al 2010, 2010, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2016, 2016, Camacho-Badani et al 2012, Reyes-Puig and YánezMuñoz 2012, Brito and Pozo-Zamora 2013, Urgilés et al 2014, 2014, 2014, Brito et al 2017, Urgiles et al 2017, Sánchez-Nivicela et al 2018, Reyes-Puig et al 2019).

Methods

Results

Conclusion