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

ABSTRACT

We describe a new species of Pristimantis from the Comunidad Río Blanco, Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador. Pristimantis ledzeppelin sp. nov. is characterized by a snout–vent length of 23.9–24.6 mm in adult males (n = 2) and 36.1 mm in one adult female and is compared morphologically with Pristimantis muscosus and other similar species of Pristimantis. The new species is characterized by having skin on dorsum and flanks finely tuberculate to tuberculate, a distinctive scapular fold, skin on venter coarsely areolate; snout rounded with a small rostral papilla; discs on the digits truncate, three times the width of the digits; groin and hidden surfaces of thighs yellowish-cream with distinctive brownish-black marks and/or orange irregular blotches; and coppery red iris.

Resumen

Describimos una nueva especie de Pristimantis de la Comunidad de Río Blanco, Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador. Pristimantis lezeppelin sp. nov. es caracterizada por una longitud rostro-cloacal de 23.9–24.6 mm en machos adultos (n = 2), 36.1 mm en una hembra adulta, y es comparada morfológica con Pristimantis muscosus y con otras especies similares de Pristimantis. La especie nueva se caracteriza por tener la piel del dorso y flancos finamente tuberculada a tuberculada, un pliegue escapular distintivo, piel en el vientre fuertemente aerolada; hocico redondeado con una pequeña papila rostral; discos de los dígitos truncados, tres veces el ancho de los dígitos; ingles y superficies ocultas de los muslos crema amarillentas con marcas distintivas café-negruzcas o negras con manchas irregulares crema amarillentas y naranja; e iris rojo-cobrizo.

Palabras clave:

• Bosque montano
• Pristimantis ledzeppelin sp. nov
• comunidad Río Blanco
• Terrarana

KEYWORDS:

• Montane forest
• Pristimantis ledzeppelin sp. nov
• Comunidad Río Blanco
• Terrarana

Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to Lou Jost for his accurate review comments and for the English review throughout the manuscript. We thank to Juan Hurtado for his field assistance and Mariela Domínguez for the identification of stomach content of specimen ZSFQ-1877. Ministerio del Ambiente issued collection permits No. 005-2019-IC-FLO-FAU-DPAZCH-UPN-VS/MA. We also thank Mario Yánez-Muñoz (INABIO) for accessing the collections under his charge during the years 2015-2016. Work by CRP is supported by COCIBA grants (HUBI ID: 48, 12268), USFQ.

Author contributions

CRP and DBZ performed the experiments, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, authored or reviewed drafts of the paper, approved the final draft.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito [HUBI ID: 12268].