Abstract
A new semiarboreal species of the Rhinella festae group is described from montane forests of the Cordillera Azul National Park between 1245 and 1280 m a.s.l. in the Cordillera Oriental, San Martín region, northern Peru. The new species is morphologically and genetically compared with members of the Rhinella acrolopha group (former genus Rhamphophryne) and members of the R. festae group. The new species is characterized by its large size (female SVL 47.1–58.3 mm, n = 4), eight presacral vertebrae, fusion of the sacrum and coccyx, long protuberant snout, snout directed slightly anteroventral in lateral view, cranial crests moderately developed, absence of occipital crest, presence of tympanic membrane, dorsolateral rows of small conical tubercles extending from parotoid gland to groin, hands and feet with long digits, fingers basally webbed and toes moderately webbed. Phylogenetically it is a member of the R. festae group which is most closely related to R. chavin and R. yanachaga from Peru. Morphologically the new species shares similarities with R. tenrec and R. truebae, members of the R. acrolopha group from Colombia.
Highlights
The family Bufonidae Gray, 1825 comprises a clade of neobatrachian anurans commonly known as “true toads” of approximately 600 species and more than 50 genera (Frost 2016)
Knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships among most of the species of the R. acrolopha group remains largely unknown mainly due to few collected specimens (R. truebae, n = 1; R. lindae, n = 2; R. nicefori n = 5; R. tenrec, n = 11; Trueb 1971, Rivero and Castaño 1990, Lynch and Renjifo 1990), absence of available genetic material, and the fact that several species seem to be seriously threatened (e.g., R. rostrata is possibly extinct in the wild, Bolívar and Lynch 2004, Stuart et al 2008)
The species R. rostrata and R. nesiotes are tentatively removed from the festae group due to absence of available genetic material that confirms their inclusion into this group
Summary
The family Bufonidae Gray, 1825 comprises a clade of neobatrachian anurans commonly known as “true toads” of approximately 600 species and more than 50 genera (Frost 2016). Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826 (former part of the genus Bufo) is one of the most diverse bufonid genera currently composed of 91 species and broadly distributed throughout the Neotropical region (Pramuk 2006, Frost et al 2006, Pereyra et al 2015, Frost 2016). The former genus Rhamphophryne Trueb, 1971, a part of Rhinella, comprised several species of bufonid toads distributed in South American tropical forests. The monophyly of the genus was not supported by Cannatella (1986) and Graybeal and Cannatella (1995) These authors noted that the only diagnostic feature of Rhamphophryne was the anteriorly ossified sphenethmoid forming a protuberant snout, which is variable in some species (R. nicefori and R. rostrata)
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