[Paleontology • 2024] Telmatobius achachila • A New early Water Frog (Telmatobiidae) from the Miocene of the Bolivian Altiplano

Telmatobius achachila

Gómez, Ventura, Turazzini, Marivaux, Flores, Boscaini, Fernández-Monescillo, Quispe. Prámparo, Fauquette, Martin, Münch, Pujos & Antoine, 2024

DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1543 

 twitter.com/ThePalAss

 

Abstract

We describe the new frog Telmatobius achachila sp. nov. from the late Middle to earliest Late Miocene of Achiri, based on a partial skeleton found at 3960 m above sealevel in the Bolivian Altiplano. This skeleton, attributed to a male adult, constitutes the first documented fossil record of the speciose living genus Telmatobius, endemic to the Andean Cordillera and the Altiplano. Phylogenetic analysis confirms the new species as being part of the crown group, and diverging both later than the T. verrucosus group and earlier than the T. bolivianus, T. marmoratus and T. macrostomus groups. Coupled with its accurate stratigraphic provenance and age, this phylogenetic position provides a relevant calibration point for timing the evolutionary history of these highland, mostly aquatic frogs. The skeleton of T. achachila indicates that several of the osteological peculiarities of extant Telmatobius were already acquired at c. 12 Ma, including some that might be linked to their aquatic lifestyle. Together with mixed montane–rainforest pollen vegetation uncovered in the same level, this fossil specimen further provides key data enabling a more accurate reconstruction of ancestral habitats and elevation ranges of Telmatobius, agreeing with the previously postulated conditions in which these water frogs might have first evolved. Ultimately, this discovery adds to the sparse evidence of a humid tropical Bolivian Altiplano just prior to: (1) the Late Miocene uplift pulse of the Central Altiplano; and (2) the drastic climate deterioration that occurred from Late Miocene time onward, leading to the harsh highland-steppe environments reigning there today.

Keywords: Achiri, Altiplano, calibration point, frog, Miocene, Telmatobius

Telmatobius achachila sp. nov. 

Raúl O. Gómez, Tomás Ventura, Guillermo F. Turazzini, Laurent Marivaux, Rubén Andrade Flores, Alberto Boscaini, Marcos Fernández-Monescillo, Bernardino Mamani Quispe. Mercedes B. Prámparo, Séverine Fauquette, Céline Martin, Philippe Münch, François Pujos and Pierre-Olivier Antoine. 2024. A New early Water Frog (Telmatobius) from the Miocene of the Bolivian Altiplano. Papers in Palaeontology. DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1543

  twitter.com/ThePalAss/status/1747934365647057113

[Herpetology • 2020] Rediscovery of the Enigmatic Andean Frog Telmatobius halli Noble (Anura: Telmatobiidae), Re-description of the Tadpole and Comments on New Adult’s Characters, Type Locality and Conservation Status

Telmatobius halli Noble, 1938

in Cuevas, Formas, Alvarado-Rybak, Peñafiel-Ricaurte & Azat, 2020. 

 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4834.2.2 

 twitter.com/ClaudioAzat

Abstract

We report the rediscovery of Telmatobius halli (Hall’s water frog), which had not been found since its description (over 80 years) since its type locality was not clearly established. “Aguas Calientes” near Ollagüe is hypothesized as the original type locality where Frank Gregory Hall collected the type material in 1935. The tadpole is re-described, and new data on the external and internal morphology of adults is provided. These new morphological data are compared with Telmatobius spp. inhabiting geographically close to T. halli in Chile and Bolivia. In addition, comments on its ecology, conservation, and taxonomic status in relation with other Telmatobius spp. inhabiting nearby areas in Ascotán and Carcote salt pans are provided. No evidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Ranavirus infection was found in T. halli and a sympatric amphibian species. Our work supports the validity of T. halli and suggests this species should be considered as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List assessment until taxonomic issues are resolved.

Keywords: Amphibia, Taxonomy, Telmatobius, aquatic frog, type locality, Northern Chile

Type locality of Telmatobius halli, near Ollagüe, Chile.
(C) Close up view of the warm spring. 

Type locality of Telmatobius halli, near Ollagüe, Chile.
“Aguas Calientes”, a warm spring (red circle), where we collected the samples identified as T. halli. Type localities of T. fronteriensis (square) and T. philippii (triangle).

 

C.C. Cuevas, J.R. Formas, M. Alvarado-Rybak, A. Peñafiel-Ricaurte and C. Azat. 2020. Rediscovery of the Enigmatic Andean Frog Telmatobius halli Noble (Anura: Telmatobiidae), Re-description of the Tadpole and Comments on New Adult’s Characters, Type Locality and Conservation Status. Zootaxa. 4834(2); 195–206. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4834.2.2

Redescubrimiento de la enigmática rana de Hall (Telmatobius halli), después de 80 años sin ser observada, cerca de Ollagüe en pleno desierto de Atacama 

 twitter.com/ClaudioAzat/status/1300106526804320256

[Herpetology • 2016] Frogs at the Summits: Phylogeny of the Andean Frogs of the Genus Telmatobius (Anura, Telmatobiidae) based on Phenotypic Characters

 Abstract

A phylogenetic hypothesis for the frogs of the genus Telmatobius that includes a comprehensive sample of the morphological and geographical variation is lacking. Obtaining such a hypothesis constitutes the main focus of this contribution. A phylogenetic matrix was generated based on 97 phenotypic characters and 56 terminals. A parsimony analysis of this matrix was performed with TNT. Telmatobius is found to be monophyletic and well supported by 11 synapomorphies. Although the consensus tree shows several polytomies, four main groups have been recovered. The well-supported T. verrucosus Group includes forest and sub-paramo species from Bolivia and Peru, and is the sister group of the remaining species. The T. bolivianus Group includes forest and inter-Andean valley species from Argentina and Bolivia but it is poorly supported. Two supported high-altitude groups have been recovered, the T. macrostomus Group from the Central Andes of Peru, and the T. marmoratus Group from the Altiplano- Puna Plateau of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Chile and its adjacent Pacific and Northern slopes. The synapomorphies proposed for Telmatobius are discussed as well as the evolution of some of these synapomorphies and other characters within the genus.

Conclusions

Telmatobius is a monophyletic genus that has evolved in relation to water ecosystems of the Andes and its precursor mountain ranges. The species groups recovered in the present phylogenetic hypothesis are congruent with previous hypotheses (Aguilar and Valencia, 2009; De la Riva et al., 2010). The taxonomic distribution of some osteological characters shows that the states resembling an immature morphological configuration are more common among species of the T. marmoratus and T. macrostomus Groups. This suggests that heterochronies in osteological development could explain part of the interspecific variation in the morphology of the skeleton. The species belonging to those two groups live at higher altitudes and are in general more aquatic than there maining species living at lower altitudes. Further-more, the occurrence of morphological characters associated with inertial suction feeding in the species of the T. marmoratus Group suggests that suction would have evolved in this highland aquatic group. It is noteworthy that this mode of underwater prey capture has no precedents in Neobatrachia, the group containing 96% of frogs and toads. The present analysis is the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Telmatobius to date and a total evidence analysis is the immediate next step

 Sebastián Barrionuevo. 2016. Frogs at the Summits: Phylogeny of the Andean Frogs of the Genus Telmatobius (Anura, Telmatobiidae) based on Phenotypic Characters.  Cladistics.  DOI:  10.1111/cla.12158

ResearchGate.net/publication/301297997_Frogs_at_the_summits_phylogeny_of_the_Andean_frogs_of_the_genus_Telmatobius_Anura_Telmatobiidae_based_on_phenotypic_characters

[Herpetology • 2015] Telmatobius ventriflavum • A New Species of Telmatobius (Anura, Telmatobiidae) from the Pacific Slopes of the Andes, Peru

 Telmatobius ventriflavum Catenazzi, Vargas & Lehr, 2015

DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.480.8578

Abstract

We describe a new species of Telmatobius from the Pacific slopes of the Andes in central Peru. Specimens were collected at 3900 m elevation near Huaytará, Huancavelica, in the upper drainage of the Pisco river. The new species has a snout–vent length of 52.5 ± 1.1 mm (49.3–55.7 mm, n = 6) in adult females, and 48.5 mm in the single adult male. The new species has bright yellow and orange coloration ventrally and is readily distinguished from all other central Peruvian Andean species of Telmatobius but T. intermedius by having vomerine teeth but lacking premaxillary and maxillary teeth, and by its slender body shape and long legs. The new species differs from T. intermedius by its larger size, flatter head, and the absence of cutaneous keratinized spicules (present even in immature females of T. intermedius), and in males by the presence of minute, densely packed nuptial spines on dorsal and medial surfaces of thumbs (large, sparsely packed nuptial spines in T. intermedius). The hyper-arid coastal valleys of Peru generally support low species richness, particularly for groups such as aquatic breeding amphibians. The discovery of a new species in this environment, and along a major highway crossing the Andes, shows that much remains to be done to document amphibian diversity in Peru.

Keywords: Huancavelica, amphibian, Andean water frog

the water frog Telmatobius ventriflavum
Photograph by A. Catenazzi. | DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.480.8578

Figure 2. Live holotype of Telmatobius ventriflavum sp. n., male CORBIDI 14685 (SVL 48.5 mm) in dorsolateral (A) and ventral (B) views. Live paratypes, female CORBIDI 14684 (SVL 52.9 mm; C, D),
and female CORBIDI 14686 (SVL 51.5 mm; E, F) in dorsolateral and ventral views.

Photographs by A. Catenazzi. | DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.480.8578

Etymology: The specific name ventriflavum is derived from Latin nouns venter, meaning belly, and flavus, meaning yellow. The species epithet refers to the golden yellow and orange coloration on the ventral parts of the body and limbs.

Figure 5. Habitat of T. ventriflavum at the type locality (A) and detail of stream pool used by adults and tadpoles (B).

Photographs by V. Vargas García (A) and A. Catenazzi (B). 

DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.480.8578

 Alessandro Catenazzi, Victor Vargas and Edgar Lehr. 2015. A New Species of Telmatobius (Amphibia, Anura, Telmatobiidae) from the Pacific Slopes of the Andes, Peru.
ZooKeys. 480: 81-95. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.480.8578 

http://zoobank.org/E7402169-3339-4218-858A-9CD8DA05A81C

Resumen

Describimos una nueva especie de Telmatobius de la vertiente Pacífica de los Andes en el centro de Perú. Los especímenes tipo fueron colectados a una elevación de 3900 m cerca de Huaytará, Huancavelica, en la parte alta de la cuenca del río Pisco. La nueva especie tiene una longitud hocico–cloaca de 52.5 ± 1.1 mm (49.3–55.7 mm, n = 6) en las hembras adultas y de 48.5 mm en un macho adulto. La nueva especie tiene coloración brillante amarilla y naranja en las partes ventrales y se diferencia fácilmente de todas las demás especies peruanas de Telmatobius de los Andes centrales a excepción de T. intermedius por tener dientes vomerianos y carecer de dientes maxilares y premaxilares, y por su forma del cuerpo delgada y sus patas largas. La nueva especie se diferencia de T. intermedius por su mayor tamaño, por tener la cabeza más plana, y por la ausencia de espículas queratinizadas cutáneas (presentes incluso en hembras inmaduras de T. intermedius), y en los machos por la presencia de pequeñas espinas nupciales compactadas en la superficie dorsal y medial de los pulgares (espinas nupciales grandes y dispersas en T. intermedius). Los valles costeros hiper-áridos de Perú se caracterizan en general por tener baja riqueza de especies, especialmente para grupos como los anfibios de reproducción acuática. El descubrimiento de una nueva especie en este tipo de ecosistema, y a lo largo de una de las carreteras principales que cruzan los Andes, muestra que aún queda mucho por hacer para documentar la diversidad de los anfibios en Perú.

Palabras clave: Huancavelica, anfibio, rana acuática Andina

A bright-yellow new species of water frog from the Peruvian Andes http://phy.so/342266075 via @physorg_com

New species of bright-yellow water frog discovered in Peru http://smithsonianscience.org/2015/02/new-species-bright-yellow-water-frog-discovered-peru/ via @smithsonian