 |
| Hyloxalus felixcoperari Acosta & Vargas, 2018
in Acosta-Galvis & Vargas-Ramírez, 2018.
|
Abstract
A new species of frog of the genus Hyloxalus from a high Andean forest of the central parts of the Cordillera Oriental, Colombia is recognized and described using integrative taxonomy. Using phylogenetic analyses of 2590 base pairs (bp) of mitochondrial DNA, Hyloxalus felixcoperari sp. nov. was shown to belong to a lineage of the subpunctatus clade, part of a subgroup that comprises high altitude-occurring lineages (subgroup I) and sister taxa of H. subpunctatus sensu stricto from the Bogotá plateau region. The genetic distance between both taxa is 2.1% and 5.1% for the 16S and cytochrome b gene fragments respectively. Hyloxalus felixcoperari sp. nov. is a medium-sized frog, which can be distinguished morphologically from H. subpunctatus by having dark throat and chest and unwebbed toes, and bioacoustically by emitting an advertisement call consisting of trill-like calls repeated at a rate of 50 –104 repititions/min, with a dominant frequency ranging from 3028.9–3861.2 Hz. Molecular dating analysis revealed that the already known lineages of the subpunctatus clade subgroup I from the middle Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, recently diverged during the lower Pleistocene – Upper Pliocene, most probably due to environmental fluctuations. Threats and main aspects of the natural history of this new species including breeding and habitat are reported in this article.
Key words Bioacoustics, Cordillera Oriental, high Andean, lower Pleistocene, mitochondrial DNA, recent radiation, upper Pliocene.
Hyloxalus felixcoperari sp. nov.
Diagnosis A species of Hyloxalus characterized
by (1) SVL of adult males between 20.3–20.8 mm
(20.6±0.2, n=3), and adult females between 21.4–
23.8 mm (22.4±1.2, n=3); (2) disc on Finger III not
expanded, the width of the adjacent phalange between
72.9 –96.4% of disc; (3) when adpressed, Finger I equal
or slightly shorter than Finger II; (4) fringe absent on the
fingers; (5) disc on Toe IV slightly expanded, the width of
the adjacent phalange between 63.2–75.4% of disc; (6)
fringe absent on Toe IV and on other toes; (7) outer tarsal
fold absent and inner tarsal fold, present and elongated
tubercle-like; (8) toes unwebbed; (9) dorsolateral stripe
absent; (10) oblique lateral stripe present, extending from
groin to eye; (11) ventrolateral stripe absent; (12) throat,
chest, and anterior part of the abdomen sexually dimorphic:
in adult males, throat and chest dark and in adult
females, cream with irregular spots or dark brown reticulations;
(13) abdomen cream with brown reticulations in
females (Fig. 7), in adult males it turns light brown with
diffuse cream spots; (14) Finger III not swollen in males;
(15) testes white; (16) adult males without black, pale or
dark grey arm gland; (17) cloacal tubercles absent; (18)
incomplete pupil ring; (19) the call with dominant frequency
between 3028.9–3861.2 Hz.
 |
| Fig. 13. upper: Lateral view of a female Hyloxalus felixcoperari sp. nov. carrying tadpoles in stage 26 (sensu Gosner, 1960) IAvH 14543 (SVL=21.4). lower: Lateral, dorsal and ventral views of a tadpole IAvH 14544 in stage 27 in preservative.
Scale bars = 5 mm.
|
Etymology. The specific epithet of this dendrobatid frog is dedicated to Felix Acosta-Gualtero (1935–2015), who dedicated his life to the consolidation of the solidarity economy (Cooperativism) in Colombia, based on principles of participation, reciprocity and cooperation.
Distribution. Hyloxalus felixcoperari sp. nov.is currently
known only from the type locality at Natural Private
Reserve Paso de Nubes, between 2500– 2577 m above
sea level. The locality corresponds to a cloud Andean forest
fragment located on the western slope of the Cordillera
Oriental of Colombia (Fig. 1).
Andrés R. Acosta-Galvis and Mario Vargas-Ramírez. 2018. A New Species of Hyloxalus Jiménez De La Espada, 1871 ‘‘1870’’ (Anura: Dendrobatidae: Hyloxalinae) from A Cloud Forest near Bogotá, Colombia, with Comments on the subpunctatus clade. VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 68(2); 123–14.
