A New Species of Frog of the Eleutherodactylus Lacrimosus Assemblage (Leptodactylidae) From the Western Amazon Basin, With Comments on the Utility of Canopy Surveys in Lowland Rainforest

A new species of the Eleutherodactylus lacrimosus assemblage (Anura, Brachycephalidae) from the lowland rainforest canopy of Yasuni National Park, Amazonian Ecuador

“…Morphological terminology, diagnosis, and description follow Lynch and Duellman (1997); the format follows Guayasamin et al (2006). Diagnosis, description, and variation were conducted from the observation of both preserved specimens and a series of highresolution digital color macro photographs of each specimen consisting of dorsal, ventral, and lateral views in life.…”

“…The 15 species currently considered part of the E. lacrimosus assemblage are: E. apiculatus, E. aureolineatus, E. boulengeri, E. brevifrons, E. bromeliaceus, E. dorsopictus, E. eremitus, E. lacrimosus, E. mendax, E. olivaceus, E. petersorum, E. prolixodiscus, E. schultei, E. tayrona, and E. zimmermanae (Guayasamin et al 2006). The lacrimosus assemblage is loosely delineated by the morphological characters of a small body size and broad, flat, pointed head; and more inclusively, a niche-specific association with bromeliads, with the exception of E. apiculatus (Lynch and Ruíz-Carranza 1985, Heyer and Hardy 1991, Guayasamin et al 2006.…”

“…Until recently, only minimal investigation of Eleutherodactylus in lowland eastern Ecuador has been conducted following Duellman's exhaustive work at Santa Cecilia in the sixties and seventies (Duellman 1978, Lynch andDuellman 1980). Furthermore, examination of the canopy anuran community has been poorly represented in the study of the Amazonian amphibian fauna (Guayasamin et al 2006).…”

Another puzzle piece: new record of the Fringed Leaf Frog, Cruziohyla craspedopus (Funkhouser, 1957) (Anura: Phyllomedusidae), in the eastern Amazon Rainforest

“…Geographic distributions are indistinct for species inhabiting the upper strata of the Amazon Forest, such as the lizard Uracentron flaviceps (Guichenot, 1855) (de Freitas et al 2011) or milk frogs of the genus Trachycephalus Tschudi, 1838 (Gordo et al 2013), and the lack of knowledge is amplified for inconspicuous species, such as some small frogs of the Pristimantis lacrimosus group (Guayasamin et al 2006). The increasing access to unexplored areas, long-term field inventories, and artificial breeding habitat studies (Turell et al 2016) in the Amazon Rainforest may reveal additional localities of occurrence to C. craspedopus and clarify its conservation status in Brazil.…”

Amphibia, Brachycephalidae, Eleutherodactylus skydmainos: first country record, Ecuador

“…Studies carried out between 1998 and 2002 at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS), Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador, revealed an amazing megadiversity of amphibians (121 species); including at least 20 described species of Eleutherodactylus (Cisneros-Heredia 2003, Guayasamin et al 2006. Examination of specimens of the Eleutherodactylus conspicillatus group (sensu Lynch and Duellman 1997) collected at TBS revealed the presence of a species previously unreported to Ecuador: Eleutherodactylus skydmainos Flores and Rodríguez, 1997. Eleutherodactylus skydmainos (sensu Padial and De la Riva 2005) was previously known to inhabit the Amazonian lowlands and Andean foothills of Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (Flores and Rodríguez 1997, Padial et al 2004, Padial and De la Riva 2005, Rodríguez et al 2004.…”