Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 609-612 (2020) (published online on 05 August 2020)
New country records and range extensions for Pristimantis buckleyi (Boulenger, 1882) and Pristimantis jubatus (García and Lynch, 2006) (Anura: Craugastoridae) in the south- western Colombia
Oscar M. Cuellar-Valencia1,*, Andrés Gomez-Figueroa1, and Wilmar Bolívar-García1
Colombian Andes cover approximately 24.5 % of Between September and December of 2017 a the country and holds 53 % of the country’s amphibian monitoring of amphibians was realised in an area diversity, with a high proportion of endemic species directly affected by illegal gold mining, located within (Romero et al., 2008). From the mid-1950s, human of the Farallones de Cali Natural Park on the Eastern occupation in the Colombian Andes has increased and flank of the Cordillera Occidental, department of Valle as a consequence, this area is facing pressure from del Cauca, municipality of Cali (3.4021° N, -76.6830° cultivation, cattle pastures, and legal and illegal mining W; 3199 m elevation). During the fieldwork, we found that are threatening this ecosystem (Urbina-Cardona, 13 individuals of P. buckleyi (Figure 1A) associated to 2011). As a result, the Colombian Andes are priority areas herbaceous plants along a small stream, of which an adult for conservation and long-term biodiversity research. male (CPZ-UV 5309; Figure 2A) and female (CPZ-UV We recently visited an unexplored area with illegal gold 5305; Figure 2B) were collected. This species belongs mining in the Cordillera Occidental. As a result of this to Pristimantis curtipes species group (sensu Hedges et exploration, we found new records for two terraranan frogs of the genus Pristimantis—Pristimantis buckleyi and Pristimantis jubatus. The collected specimens were deposited in the Colección de Prácticas Zoológicas of the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. These specimens were examined under a Leica dissecting microscope to identify sex and maturity. Finally, they were compared to morphological descriptions available and museum material for P. buckleyi and P. jubatus and their most similar congeneric species of both (i.e. P. calcaratus, P. curtipes, P. kelephus, P. quicato and P. vertebralis). Institutional abbreviations are: KU (Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas), ICN (Museo de Historia Natural, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia), and CPZ-UV (Colección de Prácticas Zoológicas, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle).
1 Universidad del Valle, Departamento de Biología, Grupo Figure 1. Living specimens of Pristimantis buckleyi (A; de investigación en Ecología Animal. A. A. 25360, Cali, juvenile not collected) and Pristimantis jubatus (B; CPZ-UV Colombia. 5475, adult male) observed at Farallones de Cali Natural Park, * Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] Cali, Colombia. 610 Oscar M. Cuellar-Valencia et al. al., 2008), of which only P. buckleyi presents tympanic Likewise, an adult male (CPZ-UV 5475; Figure 2C) membrane and annulus (Hedges et al., 2008). Besides, and female (CPZ-UV 5478; Figure 2D) of P. jubatus this species is characterised by having low dorsolateral (García & Lynch 2006) were collected, which were folds and cranial crests, fingers bearing broad discs on found on vegetation near to a running stream (3.4017º narrow‑truncate pads, fingers bearing lateral keels, toes N, -76.6811º W; 3084 m elevation). Pristimantis jubatus bearing narrow lateral fringes, and by lacking calcar, (Figure 1B) belongs to Pristimantis unistrigatus species ulnar and tarsal tubercles, and vocal slits and vocal sac group (sensu Hedges et al., 2008) and is distinguished in the males. The colouration is variable, in life it is grey- from other species of the genus Pristimantis by having tan to yellow-brown through darker browns to reddish- few pustules above sacrum, prominent dorsolateral brown or black; the pale areas on the flanks, groin, and folds, cranial crests, which are formed by the hidden limb surfaces are creamy yellow; the venter is frontoparietal bones that project above the nape forming dirty cream with brown spots or marbling; and bearing a a U (Ospina-Sarria et al., 2011), a conical tubercle on labial stripe white or cream (Lynch, 1981). Currently, P. upper eyelid, broad discs on outer fingers, lateral buckleyi is catalogued as Least Concern (LC) with stable fringes on fingers, ulnar tubercles subconical, conical populations according to IUCN (Yánez-Muñoz et al., tubercle on heel, tubercles along outer edge of tarsus, 2010), and previous to this report, this species occurs in lateral fringes on toes no webbing, with discs expanded the montane forests and paramos of the northern Andes smaller than those of fingers. In life, P. jubatus is (1900 to 3700 m elevation) from the Cordillera Intag orange-brown, ochre sparkling or brown-cream; venter and Nevado Cayambe in Ecuador (Lynch, 1981; Frolich cream or yellow-golden with brown or grey spotting; et al., 2003) to southern Colombia (Cauca, Nariño, Valle flanks cream or brown-cream with brown reticulation; del Cauca y Putumayo; Ruiz, Ardila, and Lynch, 1996; groin, axillae, and thighs pale yellow or yellow-cream Acosta-Galvis, 2000; Castro-Herrera & Vargas-Salinas, with brown spotting; iris golden orange with black 2008). reticulum (García and Lynch, 2006). Currently, this species is catalogued as Near Threatened (NT) with
Figure 2. Dorsolateral and ventral view of the preserved specimens of (A) an adult male of Pristimantis buckleyi (CPZ-UV 5309; 38.6 mm SVL); (B) an adult female of Pristimantis buckleyi (CPZ-UV 5305; 50.8 mm SVL); (C) and adult male of Pristimantis jubatus (CPZ-UV 5475; 30.9 mm SVL); and (D) an adult female of Pristimantis jubatus (CPZ-UV 5478; 37.9 mm SVL), collected at Farallones de Cali Natural Park, Cali, Colombia and deposited in Colección de Prácticas Zoologicas of the Universidad del Valle, Colombia. New records and range extensions for Pristimantis buckleyi and P. jubatus 611 stable populations in its type locality according to IUCN during the fieldwork, and we also thank Jhon Jairo Ospina Sarria (IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, 2017) and is Ph.D. for reviewing, making suggestions to the text, and providing only known in its type locality—Munchique Natural museum images of P. buckleyi and P. jubatus. Park, department of Cauca, municipality of Tambo (García and Lynch, 2006). References These new records extend the distribution range for Acosta-Galvis, A.R. (2000): Ranas, salamandras y caecilias both species in approximately 88 km northernmost (Tetrapoda: Amphibia) de Colombia. Biota Colombiana 1(3): from the other locality where they are known in the 289-319. Cordillera Occidental—Munchique Natural Park. Also, Boulenger, G.A. (1882): Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia s. Ecaudata in the collection of the British Museum. Second it is the first record of P. jubatus outside of the type Edition. London, England, Taylor and Francis. locality (Figure 3). Finally, this discovery is evidence Castro-Herrera, F., Vargas-Salinas, F. (2008): Anfibios y reptiles of the potential, and likewise, of the need to explore en el departamento del Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Biota the Cordillera Occidental to find additional diversity, Colombiana 9(2): 251-277. especially in poorly explored peaks as Farallones de Frolich, L., Schultz, N., Almedia, D., Nogales, F. (2003): Las Ranas Cali Natural Park (Lynch, 2001). de los Andes Norte del Ecuador: Cordillera Oriental. Quito, Ecuador, Ediciones Abya Yala. García, J.C., Lynch, J.D. (2006): A new species of frog (genus Eleutherodactylus) from a cloud forest in Western Colombia. Zootaxa 1171: 39–45. Hedges, S.B., Duellman, W.E., Heinicke, M.P. (2008): New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and conservation. Zootaxa 1737: 1–182. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. (2017): Pristimantis jubatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/135851/85910389. Accessed on 25 October 2019. Lynch, J.D. (1981): Leptodactylid Frogs of the genus Eleutherodactylus in the Andes of Northern Ecuador and Adjacent Colombia. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History 72: 1–46. Lynch, J.D. (2001): A small amphibian fauna from a previously unexplored paramo of the Cordillera Occidental in Western Colombia. Journal of Herpetology 35(2): 226-231. Ospina-Sarria, J.J., Mendez-Narvaez, J., Burbano-Yandi, C., Bolívar-García, W. (2011): A New species of Pristimantis (Amphibia: Craugastoridae) with cranial crests from the Colombian Andes. Zootaxa 3111: 37–48. Romero, M., Cabrera, E., Ortiz, N. (2008): Informe sobre el estado de la biodiversidad en Colombia 2006-2007. Instituto de Investigaciones de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. Bogotá D.C, Colombia. Ruiz-Carranza, P.M., Ardila-Robayo, M.C., Lynch, J.D. (1996): Figure 3. Map of south-western Colombia (inset) showing Lista actualizada de la fauna de Amphibia de Colombia. Revista the known occurrence records for Pristimantis buckleyi (white de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Física y squares) and Pristimantis jubatus (white tringle) in Colombia, Naturales 20(77): 365-415. and the new records for both species at Farallones de Cali Urbina-Cardona, J.N. (2011): Gradientes andinos en la diversidad Natural Park in the Cordillera Occidental (white star). y patrones de endemismo en anfibios y reptiles de Colombia: Posibles respuestas al cambio climático. Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Básicas 7(1): 74–91. Yánez-Muñoz, M., Almeida, D., Castro, F., Coloma, L.A., Ron, S., Acknowledgments. We are grateful to Parques Nacionales Bolívar, W. (2010): Pristimantis buckleyi. The IUCN Red List Naturales de Colombia for allowing us to participate in amphibian of Threatened Species. Available at: https://www.iucnredlist. monitoring at Farallones de Cali Natural Park, to WCS and org/species/56481/11471569. Accessed on 25 October 2019. Zoo Zürich for project financing under the “Mono Hernandez” scholarship, to Colombian National Army for providing security 612 Oscar M. Cuellar-Valencia et al.
Appendix 1. Specimens Examined Pristimantis buckleyi—COLOMBIA: VALLE DEL CAUCA: Municipio Pradera, Páramo de Las Tinajas (CPZ-UV 5731, 5811); COLOMBIA: VALLE DEL CAUCA: Municipio Sevilla, Páramo de El Tibí (CPZ- UV 4344, 4356); ECUADOR: CARCHI: Ciudad El Ángel 9.9 km E (KU 217867). Pristimantis calcaratus—COLOMBIA: VALLE DEL CAUCA: Municipio La Cumbre, Corregimiento Bitaco, Vereda Chicoral (CPZ-UV 3608, 3609, 4349, 4715). Pristimantis curtipes—ECUADOR: CHIMBORAZO: Ciudad de Cajabamba (KU 202352)* Pristimantis jubatus—COLOMBIA: CAUCA: Municipio El Tambo, Parque Nacional Natural Munchique, sector La Romelia (ICN 52478 Holotype, 54282 Paratype). Pristimantis kelephus—COLOMBIA: VALLE DEL CAUCA: Municipio El Cairo, Reserva Natural Comunitaria Cerro El Inglés (CPZ-UV 2285, 2312). Pristimantis quicato—COLOMBIA: VALLE DEL CAUCA: Municipio Pradera, Corregimiento Bolo Blanco (CPZ-UV 5704, 5712, 5713); COLOMBIA: VALLE DEL CAUCA: Municipio Palmira, Corregimiento de Tenjo, Reserva Natural La Sirena (CPZ-UV 4064, 4066, 4067). Pristimantis vertebralis—ECUADOR: COTOPAXI: Pilaló (KU 202552)*
* High resolution images of the specimens available at https:// bioweb.bio/faunaweb/amphibiaweb/
Accepted by Gonçalo Rosa