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| Niceforonia florezarum Pisso-Florez, Cardona-Giraldo, Ramírez-Chaves, Liévano-Bonilla, Mazepa & Mulder, 2026 |
Abstract
The genus Niceforonia currently includes 17 species of small, terrestrial, direct-developing frogs distributed from Colombia to northern Peru. In Colombia, 11 species of Niceforonia have been reported, with five of these restricted to high Andean ecosystems, including Páramos. Field surveys conducted between 2017 and 2023, in the Páramo ecosystems of the Puracé National Park and its buffer zone, in southwestern Colombia, revealed a previously unidentified species of Niceforonia. Through an integration of phylogenetic, ecological, bioacoustic, and morphological analyses, we identified unique traits that support the recognition of this population as a new species of Niceforonia, restricted to Páramo and Subpáramo habitats over 3300 m in the Colombian Massif. The new species is sister to Niceforonia brunnea, which occurs 195 kilometers further south in the Department of Nariño of southwestern Colombia and northern Ecuador. With the discovery of this new species, Colombia now hosts 12 species of Niceforonia, six of which inhabit Páramo ecosystems. Our study expands the taxonomic knowledge of the genus and underscores the importance of further exploration in high-Andean ecosystems of southwestern Colombia, where biodiversity remains underexplored.
Amphibia, amphibians, Andes, Páramo, Puracé National Park, Terrarana
Niceforonia florezarum
Gustavo Adolfo PISSO-FLOREZ, Alexandra CARDONA-GIRALDO, Héctor E. RAMÍREZ-CHAVES, Andrés Felipe LIÉVANO-BONILLA, Glib O. MAZEPA and Kevin P. MULDER. 2026. A New Species of Niceforonia (Anura: Craugastoridae) from the Colombian Massif, southwestern Colombia. Zootaxa. 5881(3); 301-326. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5881.3.1 [2026-09-22]
