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| Pristimantis rupicola
Taucce, Nascimento, Trevisan, Leite, Santana, Haddad & Napoli, 2020
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Abstract
We describe a new frog species of the megadiverse genus Pristimantis from the Chapada Diamantina, a regional designation of the Espinhaço mountain range in the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. We assign the new species to the genus Pristimantis, P. conspicillatus group, based on its phylogenetic position. This is the second rupicolous species of Pristimantis and the fourth species inhabiting northeastern Brazil. The new species is characterized by the following combination of characters: 1) dorsum background color light brown to yellowish-brown, maculated with blackish-brown marks, resembling a granite rock surface; 2) dorsum granular; 3) venter areolate; 4) dentigerous process of the vomer ovoid; 5) snout rounded or truncate in dorsal view; 6) snout rounded in profile; 7) dorsolateral folds absent; 8) finger fringes absent; 9) toe fringes weakly developed; 10) double, poorly developed nuptial pads; 11) vocal slits present in the male; 12) advertisement call composed of one note; 13) call duration 0.011–0.086 s; 14) dominant frequency varying from 2.41 to 3.49 kHz; and 15) decreasing amplitude modulation from the beginning to the end of call. We recovered the new species outside the clade containing the other three nominal species of Pristimantis from northeastern Brazil, as the sister species of P. gaigei, a species from Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. The new species seems to be restricted to the high-elevation areas (870–1,800 m a.s.l.) of the Chapada Diamantina, Central Bahia, Brazil. Both the genus Pristimantis and the P. conspicillatus group still lack morphological synapomorphies, and a thorough systematic review based on a stringent phylogenetic hypothesis is necessary for a better understanding of the evolution of these important lineages of Neotropical frogs.
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| Pristimantis rupicola sp. nov. in life. Individual lying on a rock and showing its highly camouflaged dorsal pattern (not collected).
Photo: F. Leal.
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| Pristimantis rupicola sp. nov. in life. Paratypes (MZFS-DAR 4460–4461, adult male and adult female, respectively) showing the bluish-tone eye present in some specimens. |
Pristimantis rupicola sp. nov.
Etymology.— The specific name is derived from the Latin ‘‘rupes,’’ ‘‘rupis,’’ meaning rock, and ‘‘cola,’’ meaning dweller. The name is used in reference to the habits of the new species, which is commonly found among rocks of the Campo Rupestre environment of the Chapada Diamantina.
Distribution.— Pristimantis rupicola sp. nov. occurs in the highlands of the Chapada Diamantina, state of Bahia, Brazil, from ~870 to almost 1,800 m of elevation, in the municipalities of Ipupiara, Piatã, and Rio de Contas (Fig. 5).
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| Advertisement call of Pristimantis rupicola sp. nov. recorded in the municipalities of Rio de Contas and Ipupiara, state of Bahia, Brazil, on 12 January 2010 and 12–15 December 2017. Spectrogram (above), power spectrum (right side) featuring the dominant frequency of the call, and oscillogram (below) of (A) one call (= one short note) without pulses (FSFL 11, adult male); (B) one call (= one short note) having four pulses (FSFL 4); and (C) one call (= one long note) having pulses of irregular duration (FSFL 10). |
Pedro P. G. Taucce, Jamile S. Nascimento, Camila C. Trevisan, Felipe S. F. Leite, Diego J. Santana, Célio F. B. Haddad and Marcelo F. Napoli. 2020. A New Rupicolous Species of the Pristimantis conspicillatus Group (Anura: Brachycephaloidea: Craugastoridae) from Central Bahia, Brazil. J. of Herpetology. 54(2); 245-257. DOI: 10.1670/19-114
