Ameerega ignipedis Brown & Twomey, 2009, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Brown, Jason L.
name: Twomey, Evan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Dendrobatidae
Ameerega
Ameerega ignipedis

description: Ameerega ignipedis sp. nov.
Figures 1, 11, 16
Phyllobates petersi: Silverstone 1976 p. 37 (FMNH 56248 collected in 1947 by J. M. Schunke at “Cerro Azul, 24 km E Contamaná”).
Holotype. MUSM 24948, an adult female (Fig. 1) collected on 19 July 2006 by M. Pepper, E. Twomey, and J. Brown in Departamento Loreto, Peru, 17.5 km NE Contamana at the western foot of the Serranía de Contamana, 240 m elevation, 7° 11’ 55.46” S, 74° 57’ 35.28” W. Type locality near “El Unión”, a campsite located at the confluence of a hot-water and cold-water stream.
Paratypes. Five adults (MUSM 24947, 24949–24952) collected on 19 July 2006, same locality as holotype.
Etymology. The species name ignipedis is a Latin adjective meaning ‘fiery-footed’, referring to the fact that the type locality is located alongside a geothermal stream. Our campsite in the Serranía de Contamana was located at the confluence of two streams, one of which was fed by hot springs and reached temperatures exceeding 90° C in some places. We found A. ignipedis along the cool-water stream in low abundances, but along the hot-water stream they were much more common.
Definition and diagnosis. Assigned to the genus Ameerega on the basis of the following: first finger longer than second, webbing absent between the toes, dorsal skin granular (Myers 1982, Grant et al. 2006).
This is a small species of Ameerega with an adult SVL of approximately 20–24 mm. Dorsum granular and brown medially, black laterally; pale yellowish-green dorsolateral stripes extending from loreal region to groin. Pale yellowish-green labial stripe present starting behind nares and terminating above forelimb as a yellow patch. Yellow spots present and distinct above groin, most individuals (~60%) also possess a yellow spot on the medial face of the tibia. Venter sky-blue with black marbling. Teeth present. Appressed first finger longer than second; finger discs weakly expanded; hands and feet lacking webbing between digits. Vocalization consists of a series of regularly-spaced notes occurring at a rate of ~2 notes per second; note length short (97 ms), dominant frequency of 4700 Hz.
Ameerega ignipedis is the sister taxon to a larger clade containing Ameerega bassleri and the two additional new species described in this paper. However, A. ignipedis bears little resemblance to any of these species, as they are larger and usually have a yellow, orange, or red dorsum. Ameerega ignipedis bears a pattern most similar to A. pongoensis, A. petersi, A. simulans, and A. smaragdina, all of which have a brown or black dorsum with green or yellow dorsolateral stripes. For A. ignipedis individuals that possess a spot on the medial face of the tibia, diagnosis can be made on this character alone, as none of the four similar species possess such spots. Individuals that lack this shank spot can be diagnosed on the basis of body size, advertisement call, and ventral coloration. Both A. petersi and A. smaragdina have a larger SVL than A. ignipedis (Table 1). Furthermore, the dorsolateral stripes of A. smaragdina (and many populations of A. petersi) are emerald-green as opposed to pale yellowish-green in A. ignipedis. Both A. petersi and A. smaragdina have ventral coloration that is green and blue (Figures 11 & 12) (vs. uniform sky-blue in A.
ignipedis), and A. smaragdina lacks black marbling on the venter (vs. black marbling present in A. ignipedis). Diagnosis against A. simulans can be made since A. simulans is smaller than A. ignipedis with respect to SVL (Table 1). Ameerega simulans also lacks spots above the axillae and groin (as opposed spots above axillae and groin present in A. ignipedis). Ameerega ignipedis can be distinguished from A. pongoensis in that the latter species lacks distinct yellow spots above the groin (vs. large, distinct spots in A. ignipedis), and by differences in advertisement call (Fig. 2). Ameerega pongoensis has a call consisting of a single- or double-peep which is repeated irregularly at a rate of one note (or note couplet) every ~2 seconds (vs. notes repeated regularly at a rate of two notes per second in A. ignipedis). Ameerega ignipedis can furthermore be diagnosed on the basis of 20 unambiguous nucleotide substitutions in the 16s and CytB regions of the mitochondrial genome.
Measurements (in mm) of holotype. The female holotype (Fig. 1) has SVL 23.8; FL 10.5; TL 11.1; KK 20.9; FoL 9.9; HaL 6.0; HL 6.0 HW 7.1; BW 7.0; UEW 4.6; IOD 3.4; IND 2.8; TD 2.6; ED 4.1; DET 1.4; L1F 4.7; L2F 2.9; W3D 0.9; W3F 0.6. Measurements of paratypes are given in Table 3.
Description of holotype. Size medium, SVL 23.8 mm. Dorsal skin of head, body, and hind limbs granular; skin smooth or nearly smooth on forelimbs and smooth on sides of head and body and ventral surfaces. In life, the dorsum is brown medially with weak black marbling; laterally the dorsum is black. A pale yellow dorsolateral stripe present on either side beginning at nares, passing over the eyelids, and continuing posteriorly to terminate above the groin as a bright yellow spot. Stripe starts as pale yellow and blends to bright yellow towards the groin. Dorsolateral lines are ~50% wider at groin than head. Pale yellow labial stripe present beginning near nares, extending posteriorly, terminating above axillae as a weakly defined yellow patch. Flanks black from groin to snout, ventral margin is pale yellow and fades to sky-blue ventrally. Upper forelimbs are yellow-bronze dorsally and conspicuously yellow ventrally; lower part of forelimbs brown dorsally and sky-blue with black reticulation ventrally. Hind limbs brown with irregular black markings dorsally; sky-blue with black reticulation ventrally. A conspicuous yellow spot is present on the medial surface of the tibia near the knee. Ventral surface of limbs, belly, and head sky-blue with a coarse reticulum of irregular black lines. Hands and feet brown dorsally. Iris black.
Widest part of head between jaw articulations, head narrower than body; greatest head-width 29.9% of SVL. Tongue medium sized, oval. Premaxillary and maxillary teeth present. Vocal slits absent. Snout narrow, sloping from lateral view; bluntly rounded from dorsal view; truncate from ventral view. Nares situated and directed posterolaterally to the tip of snout; nares visible from front and below but not from above. Canthus rostralis sloped, slightly rounded; loreal region nearly vertical and slightly concave. Upper eyelid 1.4 times wider than interorbital distance. Eye large and prominent with a maximum diameter of 17.2 % of the snout vent length, pupil rounded and horizontally elliptical. Tympanum circular, partially concealed posterodorsally, lacking tympanic annulus; its diameter less than 63.4 % of ED; supratympanic fold absent.
Hands relatively small, length being 25.2% of SVL. Relative length of appressed fingers: I ≈ II ≈ IV <III (numbers starting interiorly). Discs moderately expanded on all fingers but finger II, which has a weakly expanded disc. Disc on finger III is 1.5 times wider than distal end of adjacent phalanx. A large, circular outer metacarpal tubercle on median base of palm; a smaller inner metacarpal tubercle on base of finger I; one well developed and prominent subarticular tubercle on fingers I and II, two on fingers III and IV.
Hind limbs relatively short; heel reaches shoulder when appressed anteriorly. Tibia length 46.6% of SVL. Relative lengths of appressed toes I <II <V <III <IV; first toe short (but conspicuously present), barely reaching bottom of subarticular tubercle on base of second toe, with unexpanded disc; toes II and V barely expanded (much smaller than finger discs); toe III and IV expanded (disc 1.5 times broader than adjacent phalanx). Moderate-sized inner and small outer metatarsal tubercles, somewhat protuberant with rounded surfaces. One protuberant subarticular tubercle on toes I and II, two on toes III and V, and three on IV, however the proximal tubercle on toe IV is reduced. Hands and feet lacking supernumerary tubercles, lateral fringes, and webbing. No basal webbing on toe fringes. Tarsal tubercles absent.
In 70% alcohol the color is almost identical to the living animal described above. The only differences are that the brown on dorsum changed to grey, cream yellow dorsolateral stripes changed to silver-white. Flash marks changed from yellow to cream yellow. Blue coloration on the venter changed to slate-blue.
Variation in type series. The most notable variation in the type series is the yellow shank-spot present in four individuals and absent in two. The width of the oblique dorsolateral stripe and degree of reticulation varies between individuals (Figures 1 & 11); in some individuals this stripe blends completely with ventral reticulation. Within populations, the anterior terminus of dorsolateral lines varies between exterior edges of the eyelids to the superior part of the snout.
Vocalizations. The advertisement call for A. ignipedis (Fig. 2) can be characterized as a ‘retarded trill’ following Lötters et al. (2003). The call consists of regularly-spaced ‘peeps’ which are repeated at a rate of about 1.7 notes per second. Note duration is 97 ms on average and notes are spaced 287–752 ms apart. Dominant frequency is slightly modulated, starting at 4398 Hz at the beginning of the note and ending at 4730 Hz. We witnessed a single male calling in the type locality after a heavy rain. Calling lasted for several minutes. The call sounds very similar to A. altamazonica (in fact their calls are nearly indistinguishable), although we have never encountered A. altamazonica in Contamana, or in any other site east of Río Ucayali.
In the type locality we also heard an unidentified species of Allobates calling whose call resembled that of A. ignipedis, but differed by having notes about 1000 Hz higher in pitch and half the duration of A. ignipedis. The call differs from that of A. pongoensis (Fig. 2), which consists of irregularly-spaced ‘peeps’ repeated at a rate of 1 note every 2–3 seconds. These notes are sometimes given in couplets. Note duration 9–11 ms, dominant frequency 4233 Hz.
Distribution and natural history. Ameerega ignipedis is known from two localities in the Serranía de Contamana but probably occurs more widely (Fig. 3). Because these localities lie at the foot of low mountains, we suspect that this species may occur widely throughout the foothills of the Serranía de Contamana, as well as other parts of the Sierra del Divisor. Few dendrobatid species are known to occur on both sides of Rio Ucayali, so it is probable that A. ignipedis occurs only to the east of this river.
This species occurs in lower montane rainforest. Although the elevation is relatively low (240 m), this habitat is more reminiscent of higher elevation forests in the east Andean versant than the surrounding lowlands. For example, at the foot of the Serranía de Contamana there is an abrupt change from typical lowland forest to a lush habitat which is characterized by abundant epiphytic plants, large tree ferns, and a comparatively moist leaf litter. This may be in part attributable to a slight Massenerhebung effect of these isolated hills, trapping moisture as clouds pass across the lowland plain. These hills also have a surprisingly diverse poison frog community. In addition to A. ignipedis, we found A. hahneli, A. trivittata, A. yoshina sp. nov., Ranitomeya lamasi, and R. ventrimaculata.
Within this habitat, we found A. ignipedis near a small stream (Fig. 15 h). Most individuals were observed and collected in the forest near the stream, although we also saw a few individuals around the vegetation growing in the sandy banks, one of which was a male transporting tadpoles (which were preserved but later damaged). Since we found no other bodies of water nearby, we presume that he was in the process of depositing tadpoles in this stream. The use of flowing water for tadpole deposition is rare in Ameerega species, although has been observed in a few species such as A. cainarachi (pers. obsv.), A. macero (Rodriguez and Myers 1993), and A. pongoensis (M. Pepper, pers. comm.). Additionally, we found tadpoles of A. trivittata and what appeared to be a relatively large species of Leptodactylus. Fish were observed in the deeper pools of this stream. Males were heard calling throughout the day, particularly after rain.
Conservation status. Following the IUCN Red List criteria (IUCN 2001), this species should be listed as Data Deficient (DD). Being known from only two localities that are less than 3 km apart, its extent of occurrence is unknown but probably occurs more widely. It is fairly common in the type locality and its habitat appears to be remote enough that deforestation risk is low.
description: Published as part of Brown, Jason L. & Twomey, Evan, 2009, Complicated histories: three new species of poison frogs of the genus Ameerega (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from north-central Peru, pp. 1-38 in Zootaxa 2049 on pages 5-10, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.186518