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| [A–B, H] Tepuihyla shushupe
Ron, Venegas, Ortega-Andrade, Gagliardi-Urrutia & Salerno, 2016
Figure 3. External morphology of Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n. and Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. A–B Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n. CORBIDI 12513 (holotype), adult male, SVL = 85.3 mm, Ere river, Peru; H iris coloration of Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n., (CORBIDI 12513). C–D Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. QCAZ 55423, adult male, SVL = 83.1 mm, Parque Nacional Yasuní, Tambococha, Ecuador; G iris coloration of Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. (QCAZ 55423).
Photographs: A–B, H by P. Venegas, C–G by D. Quirola. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.630.9298
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Abstract
Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa is an Amazonian hylid of uncertain phylogenetic position. Herein DNA sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear genes are used to determine its phylogenetic relationships. New sequences and external morphology of Trachycephalus typhonius are also analyzed to assess the status of Ecuadorian and Peruvian populations. The phylogeny shows unequivocally that Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa is nested within the genus Tepuihyla, tribe Lophiohylini. This position was unexpected because the remaining species of Ecnomiohyla belong to the tribe Hylini. To solve the paraphyly of the genus Ecnomiohyla, E. tuberculosa is transferred to the genus Tepuihyla. Comparisons of DNA sequences, external morphology, and advertisement calls between populations of Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa from Ecuador and Peru indicate that the Peruvian population represents an undescribed species. The new species is described and a species account is provided for Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa. Trachycephalus typhonius is paraphyletic relative to T. cunauaru, T. hadroceps, and T. resinifictrix. The phylogenetic position of populations from western Ecuador indicates that they represent a species separate from T. typhonius sensu stricto. We resurrect the name Hyla quadrangulum (Trachycephalus quadrangulum comb. n.) for those populations. Amazonian populations of “T. typhonius” from Ecuador and Peru are genetically and morphologically distinct from T. typhonius sensu stricto and are conspecific with the holotype of Hyla macrotis. Therefore, we also resurrect Hyla macrotis, a decision that results in Trachycephalus macrotis comb. n.
Keywords: Advertisement call, Amazon basin, biodiversity, Ecuador, Lophiohylini, Peru, phylogeny, Tepuihyla
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| Figure 10. Life individuals and habitat of Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n. and Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. A habitat of Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. at Juyuintza, Provincia Pastaza, Ecuador B Adult male of Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. (QCAZ 53542) sitting at the entrance of the tree hole where he was calling C Adult male of Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n. (CORBIDI 12513, holotype) partly submerged in the water accumulated on the tree hole where he was calling D Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. (CRBIIAP 1839) from the vicinity of Puerto Almendras, Loreto, Peru.
Photographs: A, B by M. Ortega, C by A. Del Campo, D by G. Gagliardi-Urrutia.
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| B Adult male of Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. (QCAZ 53542) sitting at the entrance of the tree hole where he was calling |
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| Figure 3. External morphology of Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n. and Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. A–B Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n. CORBIDI 12513 (holotype), adult male, SVL = 85.3 mm, Ere river, Peru C–D Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. QCAZ 55423, adult male, SVL = 83.1 mm, Parque Nacional Yasuní, Tambococha, Ecuador; E–F Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n., QCAZ 55413 juvenile, SVL = 58.1 mm, Parque Nacional Yasuní, Tambococha, Ecuador G–H iris coloration of Tepuihyla tuberculosa comb. n. (QCAZ 55423) and Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n., (CORBIDI 12513).
Photographs: A–B, H by P. Venegas, C–G by D. Quirola.
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Tepuihyla shushupe sp. n.
Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa: Venegas and Gagliardi-Urrutia (2013)..
Etymology: The specific epithet is a noun in apposition. The word shushupe is used by native people to refer to the bushmaster Lachesis muta (Squamata: Viperidae), the largest viper in the Americas. Our field assistants in Ere river, Alpahuayo Mishana (Peru) and Juyuintza (Ecuador) believed that the advertisement calls of T. shushupe and T. tuberculosa were produced by L. muta. The belief that L. muta can sing seems to be widespread among hunters, colonists, and indigenous people from the Amazon basin (Lamar 1998). The association of the calls from Tepuihyla with L. muta by people on widely separated localities in Amazonian Peru and Ecuador deserves investigation.
Distribution and natural history: Tepuihyla shushupe is only known from the type locality in the headwaters of rivers Ere and Campuya, at an elevation of 145 m, in the Putumayo river basin near the boundary between Peru and Colombia. According with Vriesendorp (2013), the type locality consists of a complex of forest terraces, at elevations between 90 and 170 m above sea level, with a canopy reaching 35 to 40 m; terraces have heavy loads of leaf litter (~50 cm deep) and a dense mat of fine roots; the depressions between terraces have small palm swamps (~10 m wide) of Oenocarpus bataua; the soil varies between sandy and clayey; most streams have a muddy bottom, few have gravel and sand, and one has big cobbles.
The holotype was calling at the base of a big tree inside a narrow hole, 150 cm above the ground. The hole had 30 cm of height and had water accumulated. The frog had most of its body submerged (Fig. 10C) and the top of its head was covered by flies (probably Corethrella midges). We recorded its call and immediately made playbacks. The male answered by calling quickly and perching on the hole entrance. We detected at least six individuals during 18 hours of visual encounter surveys (0.375 individuals/hour,) in areas nearby where the holotype was found (primary forest). All individuals were detected by their advertisement calls and none could be collected. No females, amplectant pairs, clutches, or tadpoles have been observed.
Santiago R. Ron, Pablo J. Venegas, H. Mauricio Ortega-Andrade, Giussepe Gagliardi-Urrutia and Patricia E. Salerno. 2016. Systematics of Ecnomiohyla tuberculosa with the Description of A New Species and Comments on the Taxonomy of Trachycephalus typhonius (Anura, Hylidae).
ZooKeys. 630: 115-154. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.630.9298
