Atelopus ardila

description

Description of holotype. (Figs. 1 A – C, virtual animation). Head about as long as wide, HLSQ and HDWD less than one third SVL (HLSQ / SVL = 0.260, HDWD / SVL = 0.256); snout acuminate, its margin rounded in dorsal view; profile of tip of snout in lateral view curved and barely protruding to the anterior margin of jaw; no swollen gland on tip of snout; nostrils slightly protuberant, directed laterally, situated posterior to level of apex of lower jaw; canthus rostralis distinct, nearly straight from eye to nostril; loreal region concave; lips slightly flared; interorbital and occipital regions flat, smooth; eyelid flared without tubercles; postorbital crest flared, not glandular; postorbital, pretympanic and post-tympanic areas bearing coni; tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus absent; choanae small, rounded, widely separated (30.3 % of HW); tongue about twice as long as wide, its posterior half not attached to floor of mouth. Forearm relatively short (RDUL / SVL = 0.271); palmar tubercle round; thenar, supernumerary palmar, and subarticular tubercles distinct; digital tips with round pads; thumb relatively long (THBL / HAND = 0.611), apparently having two phalanges; webbing on h

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 46.7 mm (40.3 – 52.2, SD = 2.852, n = 48) and in adult males 38.6 mm (34.7 – 41.8, SD = 1.428, n = 76); (2) hind limbs short, tibia length / SVL 0.302 – 0.406 (n = 121); (3) phalangeal formula of hand 2 - 2 - 3 - 3, webbing absent; (4) foot webbing formula I (0 + - 1 -) — (½ - 2 -) II (½ - 1 +) — (1 - - 2 ½ -) III (½ - 2 -) — (1 - - 3) IV (1 - - 3) — (1 - - 2 -) V; (5) snout acuminate, barely protruding beyond lower jaw; (6) tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus absent; (7) dorsal surfaces of body smooth, bearing spiculae and coni mostly on sacral region, (8) black spiculae and coni (gray in preservative) present on flanks; (9) vertebral neural processes inconspicuous; (10) dorsum orange-red to black (pale creamy brown to black in preservative); (11) minute gray stippling present on dorsum of body; (12) venter orange to orange-red and dull yellow (cream in preservative); (13) gular region with a patch of black spiculae on gular-chest region in females (but see sexual dimorphism variation). By displaying in life either orange – red, or black or a combination of both colors, Atelopus ardila sp. nov. is most similar to A. guanuj

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

discussion

Remarks. Populations herein assigned to Atelopus ardila were excluded from the nominal taxon Atelopus ignescens by Gray (1983), Coloma et al. (2000), and Ron et al. (2003). Nonetheless, these populations were included temporarily under Atelopus ignescens (e. g., cited as Atelopus ignescens complex fide Gray 1983) by Lötters (1996); they were cited as Atelopus “ complejo ignescens ” by Ardila-Robayo and Maldonado-Silva (2004) and Cepeda Quilindo and Rueda Almonacid (2005). We provide morphological evidence that justifies the recognition of A. ardila as a different species. Nonetheless, as stated by Coloma et al. (2000), presumably A. ardila is the sister taxon of A. ignescens. Both species share a gular region having the unique presence of a patch of black spiculae in females. However, a phylogenetic analysis of the genus based on genetic markers is needed to enhance our current taxonomic understanding of these species.

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

distribution

Distribution, ecology, natural history, and conservation status. Atelopus ardila is known only from the type locality and surrounding areas between Volcán Galeras eastward to Laguna de la Cocha in the Pasto Massif of the Andean Cordillera in Departamento Nariño in southern Colombia. These localities are in subparamo and paramo 2800 – 3280 m above sea level. The area of its extent of known occurrence is about 51.3 km 2 (Fig. 5). At the type locality, annual mean rainfall is 1388 mm and the annual mean temperature is 12 ºC (Hijmans et al. 2005). At the time of collection, individuals (KU 200207 – 18) were crawling along a grassy irrigation ditch; others (KU 200219 – 38) were crawling on black rocks in a subparamo area with a steep incline, orange soils, black loose rocks, bunch grasses, Baccharis, and lots of mosses; an amplectant pair (yellow male, red female) also was found (P. A. Burrowes field notes, 25 February 1984). KU 169268 was under a yucca stump by day in subparamo with dense woody bushes and bamboo (WED field notes, 21 May 1975). KU 169285 – 341 were crawling on the ground (open, mossy, grassy) after a rain; some were under rocks by day. Others (KU 169262 – 66) were crawl

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