A new species ofNoblella(Amphibia: Strabomantidae) from the Río Manduriacu Reserve on the Pacific slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes

Abstract

With the third most biodiverse amphibian fauna in the world, Ecuador has bolstered this claim with a particularly high rate of species descriptions in recent years. Many of the species being described are already facing anthropogenic threats despite being discovered within privately protected reserves in areas previously not sampled. Herein we describe a new species of terrestrial frog in the genus Noblella from the recently established Río Manduriacu Reserve, Imbabura, Ecuador. Noblella worleyae sp. nov. differs from its congeners by having a dorsum finely shagreen; tips of Fingers I and IV slightly acuminate, Fingers II and III acuminate, without papillae; distal phalanges of the hand slightly T-shaped; absence of distinctive suprainguinal marks; venter yellowish-cream with minute speckling and throat with irregular brown marks to homogeneously brown. We provide a detailed description of the advertisement call of the new species and present an updated phylogeny of the genus Noblella. In addition, we emphasize the importance of the Río Manduriacu Reserve as a conservation area to threatened fauna.Ecuador es el tercer país más diverso en anfibios, y la descripción de especies en los últimos años ha aumentado considerablemente, evidenciando la presencia de nuevas especies en áreas privadas protegidas, muchas de las cuales enfrentan amenazas antropogénicas. Aquí describimos una nueva especie de rana terrestre del género Noblella de la vertiente pacífica de los Andes ecuatorianos en la Reserva Río Manduriacu, provincia de Imbabura. Noblella worleyae sp. nov. se diferencia de sus congéneres por la presencia de un dorso finamente granular, puntas de los dedos I y IV ligeramente acuminados, dedos II y III acuminados, sin papila; falanges distales de la mano ligeramente en forma de T; ausencia de marcas distintivas suprainguinales; vientre crema amarillento moteado con diminutos puntos ,garganta con marcas cafés irregulares a homogéneamente café. Proporcionamos una descripción detallada del canto de la nueva especie y presentamos una filogenia actualizada del género Noblella. Además, enfatizamos la importancia de la Reserva Río Manduriacu como un área de conservación para fauna amenazada.

Finding a shadow in the dark: rediscovery of Fugler’s Shadow Snake (Emmochliophis fugleri Fritts & Smith, 1969) after 54 years, with comments on its conservation status, distribution, and the tribe Diaphorolepidini

“…Future studies should assess the phylogenetic position of the genus, and to confirm that E. fugleri and E. miops are indeed distinct lineages. Nevertheless, the presence of E. fugleri at RMR further demonstrates the conservation importance of the reserve (Lynch et al 2014;Guayasamin et al 2019;IUCN SSC Specialist Group 2019Maynard et al 2020;Reyes-Puig et al 2020).…”

A new species of the genus Noblella (Amphibia: Strabomantidae) from Ecuador, with new information for Noblella worleyae

“…As currently defined, Noblella includes 16 species, fourteen distributed in the Andes of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and two (N. losamigos and N. myrmecoides) in the Amazonian lowlands from southeastern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil (Frost, 2021). During the last 15 years, the number of species in the genus has doubled; and four new species have been described since 2019 (Catenazzi and Ttito, 2019;Reyes-Puig et al, 2019c, 2020bSanta-Cruz et al, 2019). Currently, the total number of species of the genus Noblella is 16, distributed in ten species in Peru, seven in Ecuador, three in Bolivia, and one in Colombia and Brazil (Frost, 2021).…”

“…coloma, N. heyeri, N. personina, N. pygmaea;Lynch, 1986;Guayasamin and Terán-Valdez, 2009;Harvey et al, 2013) seem to depend on undisturbed forest. Three species of Noblella have been described from western Ecuador, all from mature mountain forests: Noblella heyeri (Lynch, 1986) occurs in southwestern Ecuador and extreme northwestern Peru; Noblella coloma Guayasamin and Terán-Valdez, 2009 is known from its type locality and surroundings (Rio Guajalito and Chiriboga area; Ron et al, 2019); and Noblella worleyae, a recently described species is known just from seven specimens, all found in mature forest in the Río Manduriacu Reserve, province of Imbabura, Ecuador (Reyes-Puig et al, 2020b).…”