A new species of the Dendropsophus parviceps group from the western Amazon Basin (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae)

Abstract

We describe Dendropsophus frosti sp. nov. from lowland terra firme rainforests of the headwaters of the Amazon RiverBasin in Colombia and Peru. The new species is known from only two localities, the type locality near Leticia (Departa-mento Amazonas, Colombia, 04° 06' 24.2" S, 69° 56' 57.4" W; 103 m.a.s.l.), and the paratopotypic locality, Piedras in thePutumayo basin (Departamento Loreto, Peru, 02.79278° S, 72.91750° W; 90–170 m.a.s.l.). Maximum likelihood and par-simony analyses of 2436 aligned base pairs of the 12S and 16S rRNA genes recovered the new species as a member of D.parviceps group and sister to D. brevifrons. The new species is most closely related to D. parviceps, D. brevifrons, and D.koechlini, and it can be readily distinguished from these and all other members of the D. parviceps group by, among othercharacters, its plain dorsal light brown coloration, copper iris, plain immaculate pale yellow to white venter coloration, lack of flash marks on groin and axillae, and absence of white spots on lips.

Species limits within the widespread Amazonian treefrog Dendropsophus parviceps with descriptions of two new species (Anura, Hylidae)

“…The following measurements were made with digital calipers (nearest 0.01 mm) for adult specimens, following Cisneros-Heredia and McDiarmid (2007), Duellman (1970), and Motta et al (2012):…”

“…Dendropsophus marmoratus and Xenohyla truncata were used as outgroups. Sequences of D. brevifrons , D. frosti , and X. truncata were published by Fouquet et al (2015), Motta et al (2012), and Faivovich et al (2005), respectively.…”

“…Currently it has 102 formally described species (Frost 2017). The few systematics studies of Dendropsophus that have included genetic evidence have resulted in the discovery of a large number of undescribed species (e.g., Fouquet et al 2015; Gehara et al 2014; Motta et al 2012; Rivera-Correa and Orrico 2013). These studies underscore the need of genetics-based taxonomic reviews in the genus Dendropsophus .…”

“…Within Dendropsophus , some species groups are not monophyletic and relationships among their species are unclear (Faivovich et al 2005; Fouquet et al 2011; Fouquet et al 2015; Motta et al 2012; Pyron and Wiens 2011; Wiens et al 2010). One of them is the Dendropsophus parviceps species group ( sensu Faivovich et al 2005).…”

“…One of them is the Dendropsophus parviceps species group ( sensu Faivovich et al 2005). It contains 15 species (Frost 2017): D. bokermanni (Goin, 1960), D. brevifrons (Duellman and Crump 1974), D. counani Fouquet et al, 2015, D. frosti Motta et al, 2012, D. giesleri (Mertens, 1950), D. grandisonae (Goin, 1966), D. koechlini (Duellman & Trueb, 1989), D. luteoocellatus (Roux, 1927), D. microps (Peters, 1872), D. parviceps (Boulenger, 1882), D. pauiniensis (Heyer, 1977), D. ruschii (Weygoldt & Peixoto, 1987), D. schubarti (Bokermann, 1963), D. subocularis (Dunn, 1934), and D. timbeba (Martins & Cardoso, 1987). Eleven species of the group occur in the Amazon basin: D. bokermanni , D. brevifrons , D. counani , D. frosti , D. grandisonae , D. koechlini , D. luteoocellatus , D. parviceps , D. pauiniensis , D. schubarti , and D. timbeba .…”