Amazophrynella amazonicola Rojas, Carvalho, Ávila, Farias, Gordo & Hrbek, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Rojas, Rommel R.
name: Carvalho, Vinícius Tadeu De
name: Ávila, Robson W.
name: Farias, Izeni Pires
name: Gordo, Marcelo
name: Hrbek, Tomas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Bufonidae
Amazophrynella
Amazophrynella amazonicola

description: Amazophrynella amazonicola sp. nov.
(Figure 2)
Synonyms Dendrophryniscus minutus (Rodriguez & Duellman, 1994).
Holotype. MZUNAP 901 adult male, collected in Puerto Almendra (3° 49' 41'' S, 73° 22' 07'' W), 10 km from the municipality of Iquitos, Province of Maynas, District of San Juan, Nina-Rumi community, Peru, collected by Ian Pool Medina and Rommel R. Rojas on January 15, 2013, at 10 h.
Paratopotypes. MZUNAP 906; MZUNAP 915; MZUNAP 110; MZUNAP 907, MZUNAP 917; MZUNAP 889; MZUNAP 910; MZUNAP 911; MZUNAP 916; MZUNAP 913; MZUNAP 914, adult females collected in Puerto Almendra on January 15, 2013, by Ian Pool Medina and Richard Curto (Figure 3).
Paratypes. MZUNAP 908, MZUNAP 924, MZUNAP 886, MZUNAP 900, MZUNAP 888, MZUNAP 919, MZUNAP 902, MZUNAP 887 (adult males), MZUNAP 905, MZUNAP 920 (adult females) collected at Fundo Zamora, (03° 57' 58'' S, 73° 25' 07'' W), San Juan Bautista district, 58 km of Iquitos—Nauta highway, by Richard Curto and Ian Pool Medina on January 17, 2013. MZUNAP 918, MZUNAP 909 (adult females) collected on Nauta locality (04° 34' 09'' S, 73° 43' 25'' W), Maynas province, 100 km from the municipality of Iquitos, by Ian Pool Medina on June 22, 2012; MZUNAP 242 collected on Fundo UNAP (04° 00' 11'' S; 73° 26' 04'' W), Maynas province, 31 km from the municipality of Iquitos, by the Iquitos-Nauta highway.
Diagnosis. Amazophrynella amazonicola sp. nov. is assigned to the genus Amazophrynella by the combination of the following synapomorphies (sensu Fouquet et al. 2012b): small size with maximum SVL of 26.5 mm, elongated snout and slender body, eyelids smaller than eye diameter, cranial crests not evident, parotid glands and external tympanum not visible, texture of the skin granular or finely granular, ventrum with pattern of blotches or spots. The new species is diagnosable by: 1) snout pointed (in dorsal view); 2) tip of the snout with a small triangular protrusion (in both dorsal and ventral views); 3) snout profile pointed (in lateral view); 4) body surface sparsely granular, covered with medium-sized granules scattered irregularly; (5) base of fingers I and II webbed; (6) ventral coloration yellow-orange with dark brown blotches; and 7) brown dorsum with greenish white granules; and 8) four diagnostic characters in the 16S rDNA gene fragment (Figure 1, Table 4).
Comparisons with other species. Amazophrynella amazonicola sp. nov. can be distinguished from the four nominal species of Amazophrynella by the following characters (characters of compared species in parentheses). In contrast to A. minuta sensu stricto, dorsal surfaces are finely granular (dorsal surfaces roughly granular), fingers I and II webbed at the base (unwebbed fingers) (Figure 4 A), palmar tubercle rounded (palmar tubercle elliptical), fingers expanded (unexpanded), and spiny granules on axillary region absent (prickly warty skin on axillary region). Compared to A. bokermanni, the main difference is the relative size of fingers, with finger II being smaller than I (I>II); body size is smaller in males and females (22 mm SVL in males and 28 mm SVL in females) (Table 2), with belly yellow-orange with dark brown blotches (belly white with small black dots). In contrast to A. manaos, snout is pointed (triangular snout with a slightly truncate culmination) (Figure 5 C), fingers I and II basally at the base (unwebbed fingers), dorsal skin finely granular (dorsal surfaces granular), and belly yellow-orange with dark brown blotches (white belly with black spots or stripes). Compared to A. vote, snout is pointed (rounded), subrostral crest converging anteriorly (not converging), and belly yellow-orange with dark brown blotches (ventral color pattern reddish brown, with presence of small white dots and brown spots and absence of large blotches).
Description of the holotype. Body slender; head triangular, as long as wide; head length 37.3% of SVL; head width 31.7% of SVL. Snout pointed in lateral view; head rounded in dorsal view; tip of snout with a small triangular protrusion; snout length 44.1% of head length; tympanum not visible; vocal sac not externally visible; eyes prominent, 21.4% of head length; nostril is closer to the tip of snout than to eyes; internarinal distance equal to eye diameter; presence of a line of small spiny granules from the outer edge of the mouth to upper arm.
Dorsal skin spiculate, covered with several small rounded tubercles; scattered spiny granules on upper arm; texture of ventral skin granular, covered by small rounded granules. Forelimbs slender, upper arm length 34.4% of SVL; edges of lower arm and upper arm with small spiny tubercles; hand length 66% of upper arm length; fingers slender, with tips expanded; relative length of fingers I<II<IV<III; palmar and supernumerary tubercles rounded; supernumerary tubercles present: two on fingers I, II and IV and three on finger III; fingers I and II basally webbed. Hind limbs slender; ventral skin from thigh to tarsus covered by triangular spicules; foot length 66% of thigh length; relative length of toes I<II<III<V<IV; inner and outer metatarsal tubercles rounded; rounded subarticular tubercles present: two on fingers I, II and V, three on fingers III and IV; tip of toes unexpanded.
Measurement of the holotype (mm). SVL: 14.5; HW: 4.6; HL: 5.5; SL: 2.4; ED: 1.2; IND: 1.2; UAL: 5.0; HAL: 3.3; THL: 8.1; TAL: 7.2; TL: 4.5; FL: 5.3.
Coloration. In life, dorsal coloration light brown with greenish-white granules, ventral coloration yelloworange with dark brown blotches. In alcohol, dorsal surfaces become dark brown, and the ventral coloration fades, with yellow color becoming pale brown.
Variation. Coloration of belly is highly variable (Figure 6), with some specimens displaying an intense yellow-orange belly instead of yellow. During the breeding season, coloration of throat and chest of males and females becomes red. Tubercles on thighs of some specimens are yellow instead of brown, and a yellow spots cover the belly in some specimens. In some males the inner surface of the thighs can vary from clear yellow to grayish reddish color. In some individuals, the palmar tubercle shape may vary depending on the size (SVL), being much more perceptible to the eye in larger-sized individuals. In preserved individuals, the form of palmar tubercle looses its shape, becoming more flattened. The nasal bump on the tip of the nose is more visible in adults males and females, while in juveniles this character is less visible.
Distribution and natural history. Amazophrynella amazonicola sp. nov. is known to occur from five localities in the Peruvian department of Loreto: Fundo Zamora, Fundo UNAP, Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve, the vicinity of Nauta and Puerto Almendra. This species was recorded in white sand forests, locally known as “ varillales ” (in Portuguese “ campinaranas ”), from around Iquitos.
It occurs in northwest of Iquitos (left bank of the Amazon, Nanay and Marañon Rivers), where its distribution spans the length of the Iquitos-Nauta highway; further north, its distribution is poorly known but is possibly delimited by the Napo and Marañon Rivers (Figure 7). Amazophrynella amazonicola sp. nov. breeds between December and March (Figure 8). The species is diurnal, and can be found amidst leaf litter, where its coloration makes it difficult to locate.
Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the Amazon River, the world’s largest river and one of the new seven wonders of nature.
description: Published as part of Rojas, Rommel R., Carvalho, Vinícius Tadeu De, Ávila, Robson W., Farias, Izeni Pires, Gordo, Marcelo & Hrbek, Tomas, 2015, Two new species of Amazophrynella (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae) from Loreto, Peru, pp. 79-103 in Zootaxa 3946 (1) on pages 86-92, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3946.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/236987