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| Pristimantis jamescameroni, in honour of film maker and explorer James Cameron for “his efforts to alert the general public to environmental problems through pioneering high quality blockbuster movies and adventurous documentaries”. |
Abstract
Two new colourful species of direct-developing frogs of the genus Pristimantis are described from the summit of two isolated tepuis (sandstone table mountains) in the Eastern Pantepui District of the Guiana Shield highlands. Pristimantis jamescameroni sp. nov. is described from the summit of Aprada-tepui from 2557-2571 m elevation, and P. imthurni sp. nov. is described from the summit of Ptari-tepui at 2471 m elevation. Both species share the absence of a differentiated tympanic membrane and external tympanic annulus (but presence of tiny pharyngeal ostia), the presence of nuptial pads in males, and the presence of lateral fringes on fingers and toes, a combination of characters that immediately distinguishes them from all other known Pantepui congeners. The two new species are morphologically similar to each other and are phylogenetically closely related, but they can be distinguished based on colour pattern and morphological characters such as head proportions, dorsal skin texture, and condition of the supratympanic fold. The IUCN conservation status of the new species is considered as Endangered (EN) owing to their apparent very restricted ranges. The number of described Pristimantis species occurring exclusively on tepui (and faunistically related granitic mountains) summits and upper slopes now reaches eleven.
Keywords. Anura, Guiana Shield, Systematics, Taxonomy, Terrarana.
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| Pristimantis jamescameroni, in honour of film maker and explorer James Cameron |
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| Pristimantis imthurni in honour of Sir Evrard im Thurn, a British colonial official who was the first to climb a major tepui (Mount Roraima in 1884) |
Etymology: The specific epithet is a noun in the genitive case, honouring Sir Everard F. im Thurn (1852-1932), British colonial official, author, explorer, botanist, and photographer. Everard im Thurn was the first to climb a major tepui (Mount Roraima in December 1884), along with British surveyor Harry Perkins, a Pomeroon Amerindian named Gabriel, and five other unnamed Amerindians (Dalziell 2007). Im Thurn’s expedition on Roraima and his numerous discoveries were partly eclipsed by the popular novel that they inspired: “The Lost World” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (see Introduction; Dalziell 2007).
Philippe J. R. Kok. 2013. Two new charismatic Pristimantis species (Anura: Craugastoridae) from the tepuis of “The Lost World” (Pantepui region, South America). European Journal of Taxonomy. 60: 1-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2013.60.
New frog species named after James Cameron
Belgian researcher Philippe Kok (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel) describes two new endangered frog species from northern South America in the European Journal of Taxonomy. The IUCN conservation status of the newly discovered frogs is considered as Endangered (EN).
Une espèce de grenouille récemment découverte, baptisée par un Belge d'après James Cameron
[A recently discovered species of frog named after Avatar's Director, James Cameron]
[A recently discovered species of frog named after Avatar's Director, James Cameron]
2008. New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and conservation http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01737p182f.pdf
