Podocarpus harlequin

description

Description of holotype. (Figs. 12 A – C, virtual animation). Female. Head about as long as wide; head length and head width less than one third SVL (HLSQ / SVL = 0.276; HDWD / SVL = 0.278); snout acuminate in dorsal view, protruding beyond anterior margin of jaw; nostrils slightly protuberant; canthus rostralis distinct; loreal region concave, lips flared; interorbital region flat and smooth, eyelid without tubercles; postorbital and cranial crests present; tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus absent, tympanic area warty; postorbital and cranial crests. Forearm relatively short (RDUL / SVL = 0.291); palmar tubercle round; supernumerary palmar tubercles present; subarticular tubercles not prominent; digital tips with round pads; thumb relatively long (THBL / HAND = 0.677) having two phalanges; hand webbing absent; fingers lacking lateral fringes; length of fingers II <III <V <IV. Tibia relatively short (tibia / SVL = 0.335); outer metatarsal tubercle conical, inner metatarsal tubercle not distinctive because the plantar surface is cream (same color as the tubercle); supernumerary plantar tubercles absent; subarticular tubercles not prominent; digital pads rounded; webbing formula

Five new (extinct?) species of Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Andean Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

diagnosis

Diagnosis. (1) A species with mean SVL in adult females 47.7 mm (39.5 – 52.9, SD = 3.1, n = 22) and in adult males 37.7 mm (34.4 – 40.9, SD = 2.6, n = 5); (2) hind limbs short, tibia length / SVL 0.322 – 0.424 (n = 27); (3) phalangeal formula of hand 2 - 2 - 3 - 3; webbing absent; (4) foot webbing formula I (0) — (1) II (1 1 / 2) — (3) III (1) — (3 –) IV (2 2 / 3) — (1 +) V; (5) snout acuminate, protruding beyond lower jaw; (6) tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus absent; (7) dorsal surfaces of body smooth; arms and legs surfaces warty; ventral surface weakly aerolate; (8) red-orange spiculae (cream in preservative) on flanks and some extending to the dorsum; (9) vertebral neural processes inconspicuous; postorbital and cranial crests present; (10) dorsum entirely black, flanks with or without cream marks; (11) no minute gray stippling on dorsum of body; (12) venter and throat pale green and cream (cream or yellow in preservative), with or without dark marks; (13) gular region lacking warts, spiculae, or coni.

Five new (extinct?) species of Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Andean Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

distribution

Distribution, ecology and current population status. Atelopus podocarpus is only known from paramo and subparamo habitats in the southern Cordillera Oriental of Ecuador (Provincias Loja and Zamora Chinchipe) to Departamento Piura in Cordillera de Huancabamba in northern Peru (Fig. 5). In Ecuador, it occurs in the following Natural Formations (classification proposed by Valencia et al. 1999): Herbazal Lacustre Montano, Páramo Arbustivo, Bosque Siempre Verde Montano Alto, and Bosque de Neblina Montano. These habitats lie between 2700 – 3400 m (Fig. 5). Annual mean rainfall is 1000 – 2000 mm and annual mean temperature is 7 – 18 ºC (Cañadas-Cruz, 1983). The area of its extent of occurrence is of about 2475 km 2. Habitat and other features of the Podocarpus National Park were described by Rivera-Rosi (2007). KU 120388 – 89 (John D. Lynch field notes, 10 June 1968) from Abra de Zamora, 15 Km E Loja, 2800 m were found under stones on dirt banks. KU 165004 (WED field notes, 7 March 1975) from Abra de Zamora, 13 km E Loja, 2850 m was found under a rock by day, in elfin, wind-swept scrub with a thick layer of moss, many lichens and liverworts, bromeliads on ground and on bushes, and bamboo.

Five new (extinct?) species of Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Andean Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

etymology

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition and refers to the Podocarpus National Park, where this species formerly lived. Podocarpus takes its name from having the country's largest contingent of the Podocarpus or romerillo tree, the only conifer native to Ecuador. Ecuador's southernmost national park ranges from 1000 meters in the river valleys to 3600 meters in the higher reaches of the Nudo de Sabanilla mountain range, part of the larger Cordillera Oriental. This park of 360,000 hectares shelters an array of cloud forests, subparamo, paramo, a series of small lakes, and many endemic species of flora and fauna.

Five new (extinct?) species of Atelopus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Andean Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru