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| Rhinella kumanday Caicedo-Martínez, Henao-Osorio, Arias-Monsalve, Rojas-Morales, Ossa-López, Rivera-Páez & Ramírez-Chaves, 2024 |
Abstract
The genus Rhinella (Bufonidae) comprises 92 species of Neotropical toads. In Colombia, Rhinella is represented by 22 recognized species, of which nine belong to the Rhinella festae group. Over the past decade, there has been increasing evidence of cryptic diversity within this group, particularly in the context of Andean forms. Specimens of Rhinella collected in high Andean forests on both slopes of the Central Cordillera in Colombia belong to an undescribed species, Rhinella kumanday sp. nov. Genetic analyses using the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene indicated that the individuals belong to the festae species group. However, they can be distinguished from other closely related species such as Rhinella paraguas and Rhinella tenrec by a combination of morphological traits including the presence of tarsal fold, a moderate body size, and substantial genetic divergence in the 16S rRNA gene (> 5%). Through this integrative approach, the specimens from the Central Cordillera of Colombia are considered an evolutionary divergent lineage that is sister to R. paraguas, and described as a new species. Rhinella kumanday sp. nov. is restricted to the Central Cordillera of Colombia inhabiting both slopes in the departments of Caldas and Tolima, in an elevational range between 2420 and 3758 m. With the recognition of this new species, the genus Rhinella now comprises 93 species with 23 of them found in Colombia, and ten species endemic to the country.
Key words: Andes, Central Cordillera, distribution, diversity, endemism, systematics
Family Bufonidae Gray, 1825
Genus Rhinella Fitzinger, 1826
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| Female (MHN-UCa-Am 1698; paratype) of Rhinella kumanday sp. nov. in life (SVL 35.01 mm). |
Rhinella kumanday sp. nov.
Diagnosis: A moderate-sized species of the Rhinella festae group sensu Pereyra et al. (2021), and which can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: males SVL 36.4–37.8 mm (x– = 37.1; n = 2); females SVL 32.5–40.1 mm (x– = 37.1; n = 5). (1) seven presacral vertebrae; (2) sacral vertebrae no fused with the coccyx, but fused with the urostyle; (3) sagittal ridge present; (4) snout long, protuberant and directed anteroventrally; (5) canthal crest present but weak; (6) preorbital crest present; (7) supraorbital present; (8) postorbital crest weak; (9) pretympanic crests weak; (10) supratympanic crest distinct; (11) parietal crest present; (12) dorsal surface with scattered tubercles, small and round with some conical ones; (13) parotoid glands well developed and ovoid; (14) lateral row of tubercle variable from scattered conical tubercle from ...
Etymology: The name “kumanday” means “white beautiful”, a word given by the indigenous Quimbaya to the snow-covered volcano that towers over the Central Cordillera in the coffee growing region of Colombia.
Luis Santiago Caicedo-Martínez, Jose J. Henao-Osorio, Héctor Fabio Arias-Monsalve, Julián Andrés Rojas-Morales, Paula A. Ossa-López, Fredy A. Rivera-Páez and Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves. 2024. A New Species of Terrestrial Toad of the Rhinella festae group (Anura, Bufonidae) from the highlands of the Central Cordillera of the Andes of Colombia. ZooKeys. 1196: 149-175. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1196.114861