A new treefrog from Cordillera del Cóndor with comments on the biogeographic affinity between Cordillera del Cóndor and the Guianan Tepuis (Anura, Hylidae, Hyloscirtus).

Santiago R Ron,Andrea Varela-Jaramillo,Marcel A Caminer,Diego Almeida-Reinoso

doi:10.3897/zookeys.809.25207

Abstract

The Hyloscirtuslarinopygion group is a clade of 16 species of large hylids that inhabit cascading Andean streams. They have brown coloration that, in most species, contrasts with bright marks. Herein morphological and genetic evidence is used to describe a new species of the group from Cordillera del Cóndor, a sub-Andean mountain chain that has phytogeographic affinities with the Guianan Tepuis. The new species is characterized by dark-brown coloration with contrasting bright orange flecks and by the presence of an enlarged and curved prepollex protruding as a spine. The new species is closely related to H.tapichalaca and an undescribed species from the southern Andes of Ecuador. The genetic distance between H.hillisisp. n. and its closest relative, H.tapichalaca, is 2.9% (gene 16S mtDNA). Our phylogeny and a review of recently published phylogenies show that amphibians from Cordillera del Cóndor have close relationships with either Andean or Amazonian species. Amphibians do not show the Condor-Guianan Tepuis biogeographic link that has been documented in plants.

Highlights

Hyloscirtus Peters 1882, is a genus of 37 species of treefrogs distributed from Costa Rica to the Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela (AmphibiaWeb 2018; Frost 2018)
We review recent amphibian phylogenies to explore the existence of biogeographic links between Cordillera del Cóndor and the Guianan Tepuis
The only exception was the strong support found for the clade H. armatus group + H. larinopygion group found in the Bayessian analysis

Summary

Introduction

Hyloscirtus Peters 1882, is a genus of 37 species of treefrogs distributed from Costa Rica to the Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela (AmphibiaWeb 2018; Frost 2018). They reproduce along streams and share, as a synapomorphy, the presence of wide lateral fringes on fingers and toes (Faivovich et al 2005 but see Coloma et al 2012). Colomascirtus was synonymized under Hyloscirtus by Rojas-Runjaic et al (2018)

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Conclusion