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. 2023 Dec 20:1187:1-29.
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1187.104536. eCollection 2023.

A new cryptic species of terrestrial breeding frog of the Pristimantisdanae Group (Anura, Strabomantidae) from montane forests in Ayacucho, Peru

Valia Herrera-Alva  1   2 , Alessandro Catenazzi  3 , César Aguilar-Puntriano  1   2
Affiliations

A new cryptic species of terrestrial breeding frog of the Pristimantisdanae Group (Anura, Strabomantidae) from montane forests in Ayacucho, Peru

Valia Herrera-Alva et al. Zookeys. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Based on morphological and molecular characters, we describe a new species of terrestrial breeding frog of the Pristimantisdanae Group from montane forests of La Mar Province, Ayacucho Department in southern Peru, at elevations from 1200 to 2000 m a.s.l. The phylogenetic analysis, based on concatenated sequences of gene fragments of 16S rRNA, RAG1, COI and TYR suggests that the new species is a sister taxon of a clade that includes one undescribed species of Pristimantis from Cusco, Pristimantispharangobates and Pristimantisrhabdolaemus. The new species is most similar to P.rhabdolaemus, which differs by lacking scapular tubercules and by its smaller size (17.0-18.6 mm in males [n = 5], 20.8-25.2 mm in females [n = 5] in the new species vs. 22.8-26.3 mm in males [n = 19], 26.0-31.9 mm in females [n = 30] of P.rhabdolaemus). Additionally, we report the prevalence of Batrachochytriumdendrobatidis (Bd) in this species.

ResumenDescribimos una nueva especie de rana terrestre de desarrollo directo del grupo Pristimantisdanae de bosques montanos procedentes de la provincia de La Mar, departamento de Ayacucho al sur de Perú con rango de distribución altitudinal entre los 1200–2000 msnm, en base a caracteres morfológicos y moleculares. El análisis filogenético basado en las secuencias concatenadas de los fragmentos de genes ARNr 16S, COI, RAG1 y TYR sugiere que la nueva especie es un taxón hermano del clado que incluye a una especie de Pristimantis no descrita de Cusco, Pristimantispharangobates y Pristimantisrhabdolaemus. La nueva especie se asemeja más a P.rhabdolaemus; de la cual difiere por la ausencia de tubérculos escapulares y su menor tamaño corporal (17.0–18.6 mm en machos [n=5], 20.8–25.2 mm en hembras [n=5] en la nueva especie vs 22.8–26.3 mm en machos [n=19], 26.0–31.9 mm en hembras [n=30] de P.rhabdolaemus). Adicionalmente, reportamos la prevalencia de Batrachochytriumdendrobatidis (Bd) en esta especie de Terrarana.

Keywords: Bosques montanos; Chytridiomycosis; cryptic species; especies crípticas; filogenia; montane forests; morfología; morphology; phylogeny; quitridiomicosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Montane forest of Cajadela (A) and Machente (B), Ayacucho Department. Type locality of Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. in Cajadela (A). Note the presence of secondary forest in both localities. Photo A taken on 8 November 2021 and B, on 24 October 2022. Arrow marks the type locality.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Maximum Likelihood tree of concatenated genes 16S rRNA, COI, RAG1 and TYR taken from GenBank and novel sequences. Numbers on nodes are bootstrap values (see Materials and Methods section for details). Green shadow corresponds to the ingroup. Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. in red, Pristimantis sp. 3 from Bolivia in purple and Pristimantis sp. from Cusco in blue. Maximum Likelihood optimal tree with bootstrap node values from the analysis of a concatenated dataset of 591 bp (16S), 685 bp (COI), 624 bp (RAG1) and 545 bp (TYR) of 128 species aligned by MAFFT and node support assessed using 10,000 replicates in IQTREE.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distribution map of some species of the P.danae species Group in Ayacucho and Cusco Departments. Raster of altitude from 500 to 4500 m. a.s.l. (white to black). Locality of new species in red circles.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. (A–D) male. SVL: 17.0 mm. Holotype. MUSM 41030. Photos by Vladimir Diaz-Vargas.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. A hand B toe. Male. Holotype. MUSM 41030. Photos by VHA.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
A–H colour and pattern variation of Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. Specimen from A–F collected in Cajadela: A, B male MUSM 41029 C, D female MUSM 41031 E, F female MUSM 41032. Specimen G, H male MUSM 41326 collected in Machente. Photos by V. Diaz-Vargas and E. Castillo-Urbina.
Figure A1.
Figure A1.
Maximum Likelihood tree non-collapsed of concatenated genes 16S rRNA, COI, RAG1 and TYR taken from GenBank and novel sequences. Numbers on nodes are bootstrap values (see Materials and Methods section for details). Green shadow corresponds to the ingroup. Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. in red, Pristimantis sp. 3 from Bolivia in purple and Pristimantis sp. from Cusco in blue.
Figure A2.
Figure A2.
Bayesian Tree phylogeny collapsed of concatenated genes 16S rRNA, COI, RAG1 and TYR. Numbers on nodes are posterior probabilities (see Materials and Methods section for details). Orange shadow corresponds to the ingroup. Pristimantissimilaris sp. nov. in red, Pristimantis sp. 3 from Bolivia in purple and Pristimantis sp. from Cusco in blue.
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