Three new species of frogs of the genus Pristimantis (Anura, Strabomantidae) with a redefinition of the P. lacrimosus species group

Abstract

A new phylogeny for the Pristimantis lacrimosus species group is presented, its species content reviewed, and three new species described from the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. Our phylogeny includes, for the first time, samples of P. aureolineatus, P. bromeliaceus, and P. lacrimosus. The morphology of hyperdistal subarticular tubercles is also assessed among 21 species of Pristimantis. The P. lacrimosus species group is composed of 36 species distributed in the Chocó, Guiana, and Amazon regions of tropical South America with a single species reaching Central America. Ancestral area reconstruction indicates that, despite its high diversity in the Amazon region, the P. lacrimosus group originated in the Pacific basin, Chocó region of Ecuador and Colombia. Pristimantis amaguanaesp. nov. is most closely related to P. bromeliaceus. It differs from P. bromeliaceus by being smaller, having transversal dark bands in the hindlimbs (absent or faint in P. bromeliaceus) and the absence of discoidal fold (present in P. bromeliaceus). Pristimantis nankintssp. nov. and P. romeroaesp. nov. are part of a clade of predominantly light-green frogs that includes P. acuminatus, P. enigmaticus, P. limoncochensis, and P. omeviridis. Pristimantis nankintssp. nov. and P. romeroaesp. nov. can be distinguished from all of them by the presence of a dark dorsolateral stripe that borders a light green band on a green background. Hyperdistal tubercles are present in all examined species of the P. lacrimosus species group and its sister clade. Species with hyperdistal tubercles are characterized by having relatively long terminal phalanges and narrow T-shaped expansion at the end of the terminal phalange. We discuss the phylogenetic distribution of these characters and their potential diagnostic significance.

A new cryptic species of the Pristimantis lacrimosus group (Anura, Strabomantidae) from the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes

“…Therefore, we included sequences used in previous studies on P. lacrimosus group (e.g. Arteaga et al 2013;Padial et al 2014;Ortega-Andrade et al 2015;Rivera-Correa and Daza 2016;Chávez and Catenazzi 2016;Shepack et al 2016;Guayasamin et al 2017;Ron et al 2020;Rivera-Correa and Daza 2020). Samples of Niceforonia nigrovittata (Andersson, 1945), N. elassodisca (Lynch, 1973), and P. w-nigrum (Boettger, 1892) were set as outgroups.…”

“…Character definitions and terminology follow Duellman and Lehr (2009). For subarticular tubercle terminology we follow Ron et al (2020). Sex was determined by presence of nuptial pads or vocal slits, and direct inspection of gonads.…”

“…One clade of Pristimantis containing undescribed species is the Pristimantis lacrimosus species group (Ron et al 2020). Hedges et al (2008) proposed it as monophyletic based on molecular data from only three species.…”

“…González-Durán et al (2017) proposed the Pristimantis boulengeri group for "clade A" and hypothesized that "clade B" corresponds to the P. lacrimosus species group. That assignment was questioned by Rivera-Correa and Daza (2020) but was demonstrated as correct by Ron et al (2020) who included in their phylogeny, for the first time, the type species for the group, P. lacrimosus (Jiménez de la Espada, 1875). Ron et al (2020) also described three new species and redefined the group to include all descendant species of the most recent common ancestor of P. eremitus (Lynch, 1980) and P. lacrimosus for a total of 36 formally described species.…”

A new species of terrestrial-breeding frog Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae) from the Cordillera del Cóndor, Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador

“…Ecuador is the country with the highest richness of Pristimantis, with the latest description of 14 new species from the Ecuadorian Andes and lowlands [3,4]. Only in the last two years twenty-eight species of this genus have been described in Ecuador [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], of which 14 are from the southern Andean slopes. This region has proven to be one of the most diverse in small vertebrates, with high endemism [3,9,-11-13].…”