A new giant Pristimantis (Anura, Craugastoridae) from the paramos of the Podocarpus National Park, southern Ecuador

Abstract

A new species of frog of the genus Pristimantis is described from the paramos of the Nudo de Cajanuma, Podocarpus National Park, on the border between the provinces of Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species of Pristimantis by its large body size (snout-vent length: 50.0–50.5 mm in adult females, 34.7–42.5 mm in adult males), thick glandular skin, large warts on flanks, prominent glandular patches on head and legs, and dark brown dorsum. This new species is among the largest and stoutest Pristimantis frogs of the high Andes. It is only known from its type locality, where it occurs in paramo bambusoid meadows at elevations between 3300 and 3400 m. It is morphologically similar to Pristimantiserythros, P.farisorum, P.obmutescens, P.orcesi, P.racemus, P.simoterus, P.simoteriscus, and P.thymelensis. Notorious morphological characters present in this new species are thick glandular patches covering dorsum and limbs and porous skin texture, which are shared with P.erythros.

Fifty years after: A taxonomic revision of the amphibian species from the Ecuadorian biodiversity hotspot Abra de Zamora, with description of two new Pristimantis species

“…In 2019 Yánez-Muñoz et al [ 60 ] described a new, “giant”, Pristimantis species, P . andinogigas , from the Cajanuma sector of Parque Nacional Podocarpus.…”

“…In 2019 Yánez-Muñoz et al [60] described a new, "giant", Pristimantis species, P. andinogigas, from the Cajanuma sector of Parque Nacional Podocarpus. As their description was not based on a phylogenetic analysis, the authors refrained from assigning it to any species-group although they noted its morphological similarity to members of the former P. orcesi group.…”

Our unknown neighbor: A new species of rain frog of the genus Pristimantis (Amphibia: Anura: Strabomantidae) from the city of Loja, southern Ecuador

“…Their distinctiveness is still far from completely known, numerous species being described during the recent years [ 5 – 8 ]. The city of Loja, the capital of Loja Province, is one of the largest cities from Southern Ecuador (with more than 250,000 inhabitants), and has two areas of high diversity in its vicinity: Parque Nacional Podocarpus and Abra de Zamora [ 7 , 9 ].…”

A new species of terrestrial-breeding frog Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae) from the Cordillera del Cóndor, Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador

“…Ecuador is the country with the highest richness of Pristimantis, with the latest description of 14 new species from the Ecuadorian Andes and lowlands [3,4]. Only in the last two years twenty-eight species of this genus have been described in Ecuador [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], of which 14 are from the southern Andean slopes. This region has proven to be one of the most diverse in small vertebrates, with high endemism [3,9,-11-13].…”