A species of frog that is completely new to science has been discovered in the cloud forests of Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian rainfrog (Pristimantis ecuadorensis), adult female. Image credit: J.M. Guayasamin et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172615.
Writing in the journal PLoS ONE, Professor Juan Guayasamin of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and co-authors are calling the new species the Ecuadorian rainfrog, or Pristimantis ecuadorensis.
This frog is known only from three nearby localities on the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, provinces of Cotopaxi and Pichincha.
“The tropics are known to contain many more distinct species per unit area than temperate zones like the United States and Canada, which together have about 110 described frog species,” Prof. Guayasamin and colleagues said.
“Ecuador, about the size of Colorado, has 570 described frog species, and counting.”
The Ecuadorian rainfrog is one of the most colorful species in its genus, Pristimantis.
It is easily distinguished from most of its congenerics by having a yellow dorsum with black stripes. Only its sister species, the ornate rainfrog (Pristimantis ornatissimus), has a similar pattern.
“The two species can be distinguished by their dorsal color pattern: the ornate rainfrog has black longitudinal stripes, blotches or spots, whereas the Ecuadorian rainfrog has transverse black stripes,” the researchers said.
“Also, the iris of the ornate rainfrog is yellow, but light blue to grayish green or grayish yellow in the Ecuadorian rainfrog.”
“Finally, although both species are endemic to northwestern Ecuador, they have allopatric distributions, with the ornate rainfrog being restricted to elevations below 1,100 m, whereas the Ecuadorian rainfrog is found at higher elevations (1,467-1,480 m).”
For their study, Prof. Guayasamin and his colleagues performed genetic sampling of frogs from sites crisscrossing the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes.
DNA sequencing allowed the team to uncover the new species.
“We know that there’s lots of undescribed biodiversity in Ecuador, so you could think this discovery is not a big deal,” Prof. Guayasamin said.
“But this species, first of all, is spectacular-looking; secondly, it’s restricted to a single site which once again emphasizes range-restricted, highly threatened biodiversity in the tropics.”
“And lastly, its name — the Ecuadorean rainfrog — will hopefully draw local and international attention to the endangered species and ecosystems of Ecuador.”
The Ecuadorian rainfrog is considered ‘Endangered’ based on the IUCN guidelines, primarily due to its extremely small range, rarity, and habitat loss from agriculture and logging.
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J.M. Guayasamin et al. 2017. Diversification of the rainfrog Pristimantis ornatissimus in the lowlands and Andean foothills of Ecuador. PLoS ONE 12 (3): e0172615; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172615
