The outstanding biodiversity of the Guiana Shield has raised many questions about its origins and evolution. Frogs of the genera Adelastes, Otophryne and Synapturanus form an ancient lineage distributed mostly across this region. These genera display strikingly disparate morphologies and life-history traits. Notably, Synapturanus is conspicuously adapted to fossoriality and is the only genus within this group to have dispersed further into Amazonia. Moreover, morphological differences among Synapturanus species suggest different degrees of fossoriality that might be linked to their biogeographical history. Through integrative analysis of genetic, morphometric and acoustic data, we delimited 25 species in this clade, representing a fourfold increase. We found that the entire clade started to diversify ~55 Mya and Synapturanus ~30 Mya. Members of this genus probably dispersed three times out of the Guiana Shield both before and after the Pebas system, a wetland ecosystem occupying most of Western Amazonia during the Miocene. Using a three-dimensional osteological dataset, we characterized a high morphological disparity across the three genera. Within Synapturanus, we further characterized distinct phenotypes that emerged concomitantly with dispersals during the Miocene and possibly represent adaptations to different habitats, such as soils with different physical properties.
The taxonomic status of the Pacific lowland Atractus is revised on the basis of meristic, morphometric, colour pattern, and hemipenial characters. Geographical variation is reported for six Atractus species (A. boulengerii, A. clarki, A. iridescens, A. melas, A. multicinctus, and A. paucidens). Atractus boulengerii is rediscovered and redescribed from a specimen from the Colombian coast. The first voucher specimens are reported for A. melas. The current status of A. microrhynchus is maintained based on the discovery of new material referrable to that species. Three new species of Atractus are described from the Pacific lowland of Colombia: A. echidna sp. nov., A. medusa sp. nov., A. typhon sp. nov. Two new Atractus species groups (multicinctus and paucidens) are proposed based on external morphology, maxillary dentition, and hemipenial characters. A new key to Pacific lowland species of Atractus is provided.
Meeting international commitments to protect 17% of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide will require >3 million square kilometers of new protected areas and strategies to create those areas in a way that respects local communities and land use. In 2000–2016, biological and social scientists worked to increase the protected proportion of Peru’s largest department via 14 interdisciplinary inventories covering >9 million hectares of this megadiverse corner of the Amazon basin. In each landscape, the strategy was the same: convene diverse partners, identify biological and sociocultural assets, document residents’ use of natural resources, and tailor the findings to the needs of decision-makers. Nine of the 14 landscapes have since been protected (5.7 million hectares of new protected areas), contributing to a quadrupling of conservation coverage in Loreto (from 6 to 23%). We outline the methods and enabling conditions most crucial for successfully applying similar campaigns elsewhere on Earth.
We describe a new species of toad of the genus Rhaebo from the Amazonian lowlands of Colombia and Ecuador. The newspecies is characterized by have a large-size (SVL 156.7 mm in adult female, 92.8–127.0 mm in adult males), lacking apreocular ridge and most cephalic crests except for the low parietals crests; having the cloacal opening towards the middlelevel of thighs; rounded to slightly oval parotoids; and dark to cream brown groin. The new species was previouslyconfused with Rhaebo glaberrimus, but the latter differs by having the cloacal opening at the ventral level of the thighs,small body size, skin texture mainly smooth, and a pink or yellowish color in the groin. The new species is also similar toRhaebo guttatus that differs by having a preocular ridge and a different ventral coloration (throat, chest and belly withcream round spots). We also comment on the identity of R. glaberrimus and R. guttatus, correct some reports published in the literature, and present new information on their natural history and distribution.
Five new species of frogs from the genus Pristimantis are reported for Ecuador, thus extending the distribution range for these species, previously described only for the southern Andes of Colombia and the northern Andes of Peru. The diversity of Pristimantis in Ecuador increases to 148 species, adding five additional species to the total of 508 anurans already described for Ecuador.
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