A new species of Psychrophrynella (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from the humid montane forests of Cusco, eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes.

Alessandro Catenazzi,Alex Ttito

doi:10.7717/peerj.1807

Abstract

We describe a new species of Psychrophrynella from the humid montane forest of the Department Cusco in Peru. Specimens were collected at 2,670–3,165 m elevation in the Área de Conservación Privada Ukumari Llakta, Japumayo valley, near Comunidad Campesina de Japu, in the province of Paucartambo. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species of Psychrophrynella but P. bagrecito and P. usurpator by possessing a tubercle on the inner edge of the tarsus, and from these two species by its yellow ventral coloration on abdomen and limbs. Furthermore, the new species is like P. bagrecito and P. usurpator in having an advertisement call composed of multiple notes, whereas other species of Psychrophrynella whose calls are known have a pulsed call (P. teqta) or a short, tonal call composed of a single note. The new species has a snout-vent length of 16.1–24.1 mm in males and 23.3–27.7 mm in females. Like other recently described species in the genus, this new Psychrophrynella inhabits high-elevation forests in the tropical Andes and likely has a restricted geographic distribution.

Highlights

The frog genus Psychrophrynella currently includes 21 species distributed across the humid grasslands and forests from 1830 to 4190 m.a.s.l. in the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in southern Peru and Bolivia (De la Riva & Burrowes, 2014; Duellman & Lehr, 2009, Frost, 2015)
The new species is assigned to Psychrophrynella rather than any of the other genera on the basis of molecular data (Table 4) and overall morphological resemblance with the type species P. bagrecito, including presence of an elongated fold-like tubercle on the inner edge of tarsus
A species of Psychrophrynella characterized by (1) skin on dorsum finely shagreen with some small warts forming linear ridges at mid dorsum; skin on venter smooth, discoidal fold not visible, thin dorsolateral folds visible on anterior half part of body; (2) tympanic membrane not differentiated, tympanic annulus barely visible below skin; (3) snout short, bluntly rounded in dorsal view and in profile; (4) upper eyelid lacking tubercles, narrower than interorbital distance (IOD); cranial crests absent; (5) dentigerous process of vomers absent; (6) vocal slits present; nuptial pads absent; (7) Finger I shorter than Finger II; tips of digits bulbous, not expanded laterally; (8) fingers lacking lateral fringes; (9) ulnar tubercles absent; (10) heel lacking tubercles; inner edge of tarsus bearing an

Summary

Introduction

The frog genus Psychrophrynella currently includes 21 species distributed across the humid grasslands and forests from 1830 to 4190 m.a.s.l. in the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in southern Peru and Bolivia (De la Riva & Burrowes, 2014; Duellman & Lehr, 2009, Frost, 2015). Three species are currently known from Peru, but most of the eastern valleys of the Andes in the southern Peruvian regions of Cusco and Puno have been poorly explored and are likely to contain many undescribed species (Catenazzi & Von May, 2014). Despite having been chosen as the type species for the genus by Hedges, Duellman & Heinicke (2008), P. bagrecito possess several morphological traits that are shared with some species of Noblella, rather than with species of Psychrophrynella (De la Riva, Chaparro & Padial, 2008a; Lehr, 2006). P. bagrecito, P. usurpator, N. lochites, and possibly N. peruviana, according to the original description (Noble, 1921), share the unique trait among congeneric species of possessing an elongated tarsal fold

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