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| Pristimantis boucephalus
Lehr, Moravec, Cusi & Gvoždík, 2017
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Abstract
We describe a new minute species of the genus Pristimantis, Pristimantis boucephalus sp. nov., from the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, Región Pasco, Peru. The description is based on a freshly collected male specimen found at 2950 m a.s.l. in a cloud forest and four previously unidentified museum specimens consisting of two adult males, one subadult female and a juvenile from the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park. The new species is mainly characterized by a snout–vent length of 13.4–14.5 mm in adult males (n = 3), and 12.5 mm in the only known subadult female, and is compared morphologically and genetically with other taxonomically and biogeographically relevant species of Pristimantis. The new species is characterized by its small size, disproportionally large head with short snout, absence of a tympanic annulus and membrane, and reddish-copper iris. Phylogenetically it belongs to a speciose clade, an as yet unnamed species group, comprising both montane (Andes, Guiana Shield) and lowland (Amazon) taxa from the northern part of South America. The new species is genetically close to the sympatric P. cruciocularis. Species of Pristimantis occurring in the Cordillera Yanachaga region in the Andes of central Peru are members of six divergent phylogenetic lineages.
Keywords. Andes, DNA barcoding, frogs, molecular phylogeny, new species.
Order Anura Fischer von Waldheim, 1813
Superfamily Brachycephaloidea Günther, 1858
Family Craugastoridae Hedges, Duellman & Heinicke, 2008
Subfamily Ceuthomantinae Heinicke, Duellman, Trueb, Means, MacCulloch & Hedges, 2009
Genus Pristimantis Jiménez de la Espada, 1870
Pristimantis boucephalus sp. nov
Pristimantis sp. 4 – Angulo et al. 2016: 4, figs 76–77.
Suggested English name: Bigheaded Rubber Frog.
Suggested Spanish name: Rana cutín cabezona.
Etymology: The species epithet boucephalus is derived from the Greek prefix “bou-“ meaning large, huge, or great,
and the Greek noun “cephalo” meaning head. The name refers to the disproportionally large head of the
new species.
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Fig. 3. Live holotype (MUSM 31102, SVL 14.1 mm) of Pristimantis boucephalus sp. nov. A. Dorsal view. B. Dorsolateral view.
Fig. 7. Type locality of Pristimantis boucephalus sp. nov. in the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park.
Photos by E. Lehr.
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| Fig. 5. Pristimantis boucephalus sp. nov., holotype (MUSM 31102). A. Dorsal view of head. B. Lateral view of head.
Drawings by J. Moravec.
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Definition: A new species of Pristimantis, not assigned to any species group, having the following combination of
characters: (1) Skin on dorsum smooth with few low scattered tubercles, skin on venter areolate with
low scattered tubercles; discoidal and thoracic folds absent; dorsolateral folds absent; (2) tympanic
membrane and tympanic annulus absent; (3) snout short, rounded in dorsal and lateral views; (4) upper
eyelid with one enlarged conical tubercle at its center and one enlarged conical tubercle at its posterior
end; EW slightly shorter than IOD; cranial crests absent; (5) dentigerous processes of vomers absent;
(6) males with vocal slits, nuptial pads absent; (7) Finger I shorter than Finger II; discs of digits
expanded, rounded; (8) fingers with lateral fringes; (9) small conical ulnar and tarsal tubercles present;
(10) heel with a conical tubercle; inner tarsal fold absent; (11) inner metatarsal tubercle ovoid, 2.5
times as large as outer; outer metatarsal tubercle small, rounded; numerous low, supernumerary plantar
tubercles; (12) toes with lateral fringes; basal toe webbing present; Toe V longer than Toe III; toe discs
slightly smaller than those on fingers; (13) in life, dorsal ground coloration greenish gray with reddishbrown
blotches and scattered brown flecks surrounded by black; canthal and supratympanic stripes
absent; groin and anterior surfaces of thighs greenish yellow with black blotches; venter gray with pale
reddish and greenish brown mottling and scattered dark gray flecks; iris reddish copper with fine black
vermiculation and black narrow vertical streak from pupil across lower half of iris; (14) SVL in adult
males 13.4–14.5 mm (n = 3), in adult females unknown (12.5 mm in single subadult female).
Edgar Lehr, Jiří Moravec, Juan Carlos Cusi and Václav Gvoždík. 2017. A New Minute Species of Pristimantis (Amphibia: Anura: Craugastoridae) with A Large Head from the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park in central Peru, with Comments on the Phylogenetic Diversity of Pristimantis Occurring in the Cordillera Yanachaga. European Journal of Taxonomy. 325; 1–22. DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2017.325