Rhaebo
Creators: name: Mueses-Cisneros, Jonh Jairo
name: Cisneros-Heredia, Diego F.
name: Mcdiarmid, Roy W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Bufonidae
Rhaebo

description: Species of Rhaebo phenetically similar to Rhaebo ecuadorensis
Rhaebo glaberrimus ― (Figures 5, 6). This species is distinguished from other known species of Rhaebo by having the cloacal opening near the inferior part of the thighs in females or ventrally in males (Figure 4 A–B); most specimens also show flash-colours in the groin (pink and/or yellow). It is phenetically similar to R. guttatus from which it differs by body size (121.3–146.9 mm SVL in males of R. guttatus vs. 49.6–64.6 mm SVL in males of R. glaberrimus), by the absence of the preocular ridge (present in R. guttatus) and by the colouration pattern (Figure 5).
Distribution. R. glaberrimus is distributed in Colombia along the eastern flank of the Cordillera Oriental, in the departments of Boyacá, Casanare, Cundinamarca, and Meta between 520–1470 m a.s.l. (although Ruiz-Carranza et al (1996) reported its distribution between 300 and 1240 m a.s.l.), and in Venezuela in the state of Táchira between 300–1400 m a.s.l. (Chacón et al 2002 "2000").
Colouration in life. (Figure 6). “Orange-brown dorsally, cream-bordered dark brown flanks; coppery-golden iris with black punctuations; forelimbs gray with greenish shadows; dark gray throat with a light gray line on the mandible; venter dark gray with cream spots; anterior part of hind limbs with pale yellow marks; groin, axilla, and posterior part of hind limbs mottled with pale reddish” (John D. Lynch, field notes, 26 July 1986). “Golden parotoid glands; yellowish brown dorsum with olive-green shadows, flanks and sides of head brown; lower parts of the glands reddish-brown; groin and hidden parts of hind legs orange-brown; brown iris with golden punctuations” (John D. Lynch, field notes, June 1989).
Colouration in preservative. (Figure 5). Light or dark brown or cream dorsum, with or without rounded or irregular light-bordered dark brown marks; hind limbs with dark brown bars and cream or light to dark brown background; bicoloured flanks (dorsally light/ventrally dark brown) or not; venter cream or light to dark brown with dark brown reticulation; pink or yellowish groin; anterior and posterior parts of hind limbs with irregular dark brown marks.
Natural history. A calling male was found on a rock next to a waterfall; the call was a series of short soft whistles (J. D. Lynch, field notes, June 1989). Specimens have been found under stones next to roads or amidst leaf litter in primary and secondary Terra Firme forests.
Measurements. Measurements of 20 adult examined specimens are presented in Table 2.
Variation. The dorsal colouration in life is variable (Figure 6), from greenish brown to dark brown, with or without dark marks. Ventral colour may vary from dark brown with cream spots to cream with dark marks. Some specimens have a pink groin while others have it yellow-coloured, but five specimens have both yellow and pink. In lateral profile the snout shape has some slight variations.
Remarks. JJM examines two specimens of R. glaberrimus deposited in the Museo San José de Medellin (MHNCSJ 153–4), collected apparently in Albán Cundinamarca (western flank of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia), however because these are the only two specimens purportedly collected on the western side of the Cordillera, it is very probable that the locality is in error. This place has also been visited on several occasions by J. D. Lynch and some experienced collectors, but none of them found a specimen of this species. Consequently and until more specimens of R. glaberrimus are collected on this flank of the Cordillera or in nearby localities, we consider these records doubtful.
Likewise, is very probable that the locality “Bogotá, Cundinamarca”, recognized as the type locality of the species (Frost 2011) is also an error. Günther 1869, in his description of Bufo glaberrimus wrote: “We have received a single example from Bogotá…”, however, this does not indicate that this specimen was actually collected in Bogotá. We believe that this locality is an error, because Bogotá is located at 2600 m a.s.l. (the range of distribution of the species does not exceed 1500 m), the habitats present in Bogotá are very different from the habitats where Rhaebo glaberrimus is distributed, and none of the studies in Bogotá and its surroundings (Lynch and Rengifo 2001) have detected the presence of R. glaberrimus in this region.
Cochran and Goin (1970) reported three specimens (FMNH [CNHM] 61767–9) as R. glaberrimus from Alto de Quimarí, Bolívar, Colombia; after careful examination of dorsal and ventral photographs of these specimens, it is clear to us that they are juvenile R. blombergi (Figure 10 A). Further, they were not collected in the Department of Bolívar, but in the Department of Nariño (Alan Resetar pers. comm.). Cochran and Goin (1970) also reported two specimens (USNM 144569–70) of Rhaebo glaberrimus from Amanavén, Department of Vichada, but photographs revealed the presence of a preocular ridge (Figure 10 B) and a distinctive ventral pattern with rounded light spots; thus we refer them to Rhaebo guttatus. The specimens reported by Cochran and Goin (1970) from Buenaventura (Department of Valle del Cauca) are probably in error too, since R. glaberrimus is distributed in Colombia in the eastern flank of the Cordillera Oriental, not in the Pacific Region. Duellman and Salas (1991) and Parmelee (1999) reported specimens of R. glaberrimus from southern Peru; later Duellman (2005) changed these identifications to Rhaebo guttatus. Even though we have not examined those specimens, we agree with his reidentification. Chacón et al. (2002 "2000") reported R. glaberrimus from Venezuela and provided a brief description.
Almendáriz (1987) provided data on distribution, natural history, stomach contents and an illustration (under the name “ R. glaberrimus ”) based on individuals from Amazonia Central-Eastern Ecuador; however, DFCH examined these specimens and concluded that they are Rhaebo guttatus.
Rhaebo guttatus ― (Figures 7, 8). This species is known from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and the Guianas, mainly from the Amazonian region. It is easily diagnosed by having a prominent preocular ridge, present even in juveniles. The preocular ridge is actually a bony projection of the posterior lateral edge of the nasal (Figure 8 B) that appears as a fleshy lateral projection (Figure 8 A) interrupting the canthus rostralis in front of the anterior edge of the superior eyelid.
Colouration in life. (Figure 7 A–B)“Brown dorsum with darker grayish brown spots, border between the dorsum and the flanks with a thin yellow line down to the groin; dark brown flanks; dark brown legs with black spots; dark gray venter with yellowish-cream spots; bronze iris” (Claudia Vélez, field notes). “Reddish brown dorsum, terracotta-red warts; chocolate brown venter” (Juan Manuel Renjifo, field notes).
Colouration in ethanol. (Figure 7 C). Light brown dorsally, parotoid glands orange-brown to dark brown; flanks and legs dark to gray brown; dark brown or gray ventrally with irregularly-sized rounded creamish spots.
Natural History. Duellman (2005) presented information on this species in southern Peru and included an analysis of the advertisement call and a description of the tadpole. Rivero (1961) mentioned R. guttatus preferring soils covered by leaf litter in humid regions, despite specimens cited by Ardila-Robayo and Ruiz-Carranza (1997) collected at the hospital at Vaupés. Lötters et al. (2000) presented information on collecting localities in Bolivia, mentioning that when manipulated, specimens produced a yellowish substance from its parotoid glands. Juvenile males have enlarged thin testes, without convolutions seen in adult males.
Measurements. For adult specimens provided on Table 2.
Remarks. Rivero (1961) reported specimens from Venezuela, briefly described the species, and included information on coloration and natural history. Rivero also pointed out that the type-locality of R. guttatus (“ India orientali”) is in error, and that it was actually collected in Surinam by Bloch. Ruiz-Carranza et al. (1996) reported juveniles [as Bufo anderssoni] from the lower Vaupés and lower Vichada drainages and published a photograph of a juvenile female. Barrio-Amorós (1999 “1998”) presented records of the species from southern Venezuela and mentioned that specimens collected in the Andean foothills of the state of Táchira, are either R. anderssoni or R. glaberrimus. Lötters et al. (2000) reported the R. guttatus from Bolivia and pointed out some characters that differentiate it from R. ecuadorensis [as Bufo glaberrimus], remarking that R. guttatus has a preocular ridge. De la Riva et al. (2000) mentioned records from Bolivia and included a photograph. Barrio-Amorós et al. (2001) reported it from Santa María del Orinoco in Estado Apure, Venezuela, and Bustamante et al. (2005) published the first vouchered records of this species from the provinces of Orellana and Sucumbíos, Ecuador. Mueses-Cisneros (2007) and Barrio-Amorós and Castroviejo-Fisher (2008) synonymized Rhaebo anderssoni with R. guttatus as suggested by Rivero (1961) and Hoogmoed (1990). Pramuk (2006) and Pramuk et al. (2007) hypothesized that R. guttatus was the sister taxon of R. ecuadorensis (as Rhaebo glaberrimus).
description: Published as part of Mueses-Cisneros, Jonh Jairo, Cisneros-Heredia, Diego F. & Mcdiarmid, Roy W., 2012, A new Amazonian species of Rhaebo (Anura: Bufonidae) with comments on Rhaebo glaberrimus (Günther, 1869) and Rhaebo guttatus (Schneider, 1799), pp. 22-40 in Zootaxa 3447 on pages 31-35, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.214920