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Hyloxalus subpunctatus |
Dendrobatid frogs, like other frog clades, have undergone dramatic
nomenclatural changes in recent years as the result of molecular studies. One
genus, Hyloxalus Jiménez de la Espada,
1870 now contains more than 57 species that over time have been previously
placed in genera such as Mannophryne,
Colostethus, Cryptophyllobates, and Prostherapis. Hyloxalus
bocagei was first described from Cantón de Quijos, Napo Province, Ecuador. Spanish zoologist Marco Jiménez de la Espada traveled
throughout South America collecting specimens between 1862 and 1865. Three species
of the frogs he collected he placed in the genus Hyloxalus – meaning hyla-like. Dunn later moved these frogs to the
genus Prostherapis, and Edwards placed them in the genus Colostethus. Today
the genus Hyloxalus is known from Panama
southward to Peru along the Pacific coast, and on the east side of the Andes
from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru eastward into the upper Amazon Basin.
Now Mónica Paez-Vacas and colleagues have examined the H. bocagei clade and report that it
contains four previously described species (Hyloxalus
bocagei, H. faciopunctulatus, H. maculosus, and H. sauli) as well as two new
species (Hyloxalus yasuni and Hyloxalus
italoi). The clade is endemic to the eastern Andean
slopes and adjacent Amazonian lowlands in southern Colombia, Ecuador and
northern Peru. The authors assign the name of Hyloxalus bocagei to the populations
surroundings Volcán Reventador (Provincia Napo, Ecuador); describe the tadpoles
of Hyloxalus bocagei, H. maculosus, H. italoi, and H. yasuni; and report on the vocalizations
of H. bocagei, H. maculosus, H. sauli, H. italoi
, and H. yasuni. Adults of italoi and yasuni were indistinguishable using morphological characters, however
molecular data, call parameters, and tadpole morphology supported the
recognition of these two species as cryptic taxa. Their phylogeny confirms the
close relationship of members of the bocagei clade with Andean relatives
of Hyloxalus and recurrent dispersal events from the Andes to the Amazon
Basin in the late Miocene (less than10 MYA). Their data also support the bocagei
clade as the sister to the Andean H. subpunctatus clade.
Members
of the bocagei clade are diurnal,
stream-side frogs. Males are often found calling on rocks and from crevices,
and when disturbed, jump into the water, returning to their calling site
several hours later. Males of may also use human modified structures such as
plastic drain pipes and concrete walls. The eggs are deposited on the forest
floor and guarded by the male, upon hatching he transports them to a stream.
Literature
Paez-Vacas, M. I., L. A. Coloma and J. C. Santos. 2010.
Systematics
of the Hyloxalus bocagei complex (Anura: Dendrobatidae), description of
two new cryptic species, and recognition of H. maculosus. Zootaxa 2711: 1–75.
Labels: Dendrobatidae, new species, phylogeny