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| Boana platanera Escalona, Marca, Castellanos, Fouquet, Crawford, ... et Castroviejo-Fisher, 2021 facebook.com/FernandoRojasRunjaic |
Abstract
Boana xerophylla is a common treefrog widely distributed in northern Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. A recent study found molecular, acoustic, and morphometric differences between the populations located on opposite sides of the Orinoco River. Here, we carry out an updated molecular phylogenetic analysis, including new samples from all the countries along the distribution area, and analyzed additional call recordings from Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Our phylogenetic inference reveals three geographically restricted lineages: one in the eastern Guiana Shield (corresponding to B. xerophylla sensu stricto), another in the western Guiana Shield, and a third one north of the Orinoco River. Morphological and acoustic data agree with the differentiation between the populations north of the Orinoco River and the eastern Guiana Shield despite the low genetic p-distances observed (16S rRNA: 0.7–2.2 %). We argue that the populations north of the Orinoco River correspond to a new species, sister of B. xerophylla. We name and describe Boana platanera sp. nov. from the southern versant of the Cordillera de Mérida (08º__ N, 70º__ W, WGS 84; 947 m asl), Venezuela, and refer all the populations north of the Orinoco River currently identified as B. xerophylla to this species. The new species can be readily diagnosed from B. xerophylla (characters of the latter in parentheses) by a pale orange-yellow or light brown dorsal coloration (dark brown to green), palpebral membrane with dark pigments (pigments absent); pericloacal region dark brown (cream), advertisement call with shorter first note length than B. xerophylla. This study represents an empirical example regarding false negatives behind genetic thresholds for species discovery, appraising the use of integrative taxonomic approaches.
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| FIGURE 6. Specimens of Boana platanera sp. nov. in life. Note the variation in coloration at night (A–D, G, H), the difference of the coloration during the day (E), and the coloration of a juvenile at night (F). All the specimens from Venezuela: (A, B) adult male not collected from Sabaneta sector, El Hatillo, Miranda state; (C) adult male from Río Cata, Aragua state; (D) adult male from Parque Minas de Aroa, Yaracuy state; (E) adult male from Ipika, Sierra de Perijá, Zulia state; (F) juvenile not collected, sex unknown, from Posada Ecológica Casa María, altos de Canoabo, Carabobo state; (G) adult male calling from Laguna de Caparú, Mérida state; (H) adult male calling from Posada Ecológica Casa María, altos de Canoabo, Carabobo state (not collected). The photos are not to the same scale. Photos: (A–C) Fernando J. M. Rojas-Runjaic; (D) Iván Mendoza; (E) Edwin Infante; (F, H) Celsa Señaris; (G) Moisés Escalona. |
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| FIGURE 7. (A) Map of northern South America with confirmed localities of Boana platanera sp. nov. (circles and star), B. xerophylla (triangles), and B. sp. (squares). The type locality of B. platanera is indicated with a star; yellow symbols indicate localities of specimens with DNA sequence data analyzed in this study; white symbols indicate localities of specimens analyzed morphologically; gray symbols indicate localities of individuals according to the literature (Kluge 1979; Lynch & Suárez-Mayorga 2001). (B) Photograph illustrating the landscape around the type locality of B. platanera. (C) Paratype of B. platanera in life at night (ULABG 7763). Photos: (B) Jesús Molinari; (C) Enrique La Marca. |
Boana platanera sp. nov.
Boana xerophylla (Duméril & Bibron, 1841)
Moisés Escalona, Enrique La Marca, Michelle Castellanos, Antoine Fouquet, Andrew J. Crawford, Fernando J.M. Rojas-Runjaic, Ariovaldo A. Giaretta, J. Celsa Señaris and Santiago Castroviejo-Fisher. 2021. Integrative Taxonomy reveals A New but common Neotropical Treefrog, Hidden under the name Boana xerophylla. Zootaxa. 4981(3); 401–448. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4981.3.1
