Ecuadorian Glass Frogs (Centrolenidae) Current state of knowled8e, new research trends and conservation 0 Smithsonian National Museum of Nmural History Di11isio11 of Amphibians and Hcptiles Diego F. Cisnero s-Heredia & Roy W. McDiarmid (DFCH) Laboratory of Amphibians (!;f Reptiles, Museoo de Ciencias de la u&FQUniversidad San Francisco de C)uilo. Ave. Inleroceanica, (RWM) u&c& Paluxenl Wddlife Research Center, Smithsonian Institution, PO I'>ox 37012, National Museum of Natural lli!,lory, (DFCH) E-mail: dieyiranci!>co ci!.neroo@yahoo.com herpelolqcia@mail.usfg.edu.ec Ecuador ha s the bigge st number of amphibian specie s per unit of area in the w orld (425 specie s in 276 ,840 km2), which is almo st three time s the den sit y of specie s from Colombia and 21 time s that from Bra sil (Coloma & Quiguan go 2000-2002). In the la st decade several source s of data sugge st that a significant proportion of thi s biodi ver sit y is endan gered. Con servati ve estimate s indicate that at lea st 26 specie s of Ecuadorian amphibian s ha ve declined or gone extinct (Ron et al. 2000, Coloma per s. comm. 2003). The rea son s NEW RE&>EJ\RCH TREND&> for thi s cri sis are not clear but ha ve been related to habitat de struction, climate chan ge, and / or di sea se such a s Chytridiom yco sis (Young et al 2001). Centrolene prosoblepon (Boettger 1892) Centrolene geckoideum Jimenez de la Espada 1872 Gla ss Fro gs belon g to the Neotropical famil y Centrolenidae , which currentl y compri ses three genera: Centrolene, Cochranella, and Hyalinobatrachium (Ruiz-Carranza & Lynch 1991). Mo st of them are small frog s (20-30 mm) (L ynch & Duellman 1973) and differ from other Anura by the fu sion of the a stra galu s and calcaneum, T -shaped terminal phalange s, and a proc ess on th e third metacarpal. The fir st E cuadorian centrolenid fro g de scribed w a s Centrolene geckoideum Gimenez de la E spada 1872). In 1973, Lynch & Duellman revie w ed the nineteen E cuadorian specie s then known from the country. Currentl y, there are 31 specie s of gla ss frog s reported from E cuador, nine (9) of that are endemic. Two characters of the Family Centrolenidae: a = process on the third metacarpal; b = T-shaped terminal phalanges. Some of the new species from the western lowlands of Ecuador: (a) New Hyalinobatrachium previously confused with H. fleischmanni, (b) new Centrolene known just form the type locality that was destroyed by the agricultural expansion and transformation of the forest remnants into oil palm and banana plantations, the species is critically endangered, ( c) new Hyalinobatrachium previously confused with H. valerioi, ( d) new species of Centrolene very similar to another new species but differed by the yellow iris. Ch aracte r s th at h ave b ee n u se d to sep ara te glass frogs sp ecies dorsa l coloration patterns color of visceral membranes, bones and iris skin texture sno ut profiles webbing between fingers and toes nostri ls and loreal region tympanum post-cep halic constrictio n humeral and prepollica l spine anal ornamentation nuptia l excrescences number, color and form of eggs calls However, some are useless because are subjected to preservation artifacts, intraspecific variation or sexual dimorphism. The most useful characters are: ( a )Dorsal Coloration Patterns with caution ( some key patterns fade on alcohol, and sometimes ,vhat seems to be an ocelli is just an random aggregation of dots (false ocelli). (b )Humeral and prepollical spines, the best way to see its form is to dissect or get ax-ray radiograph. (c)Nuptial excrescence, it is useful to differ between individual disperse glands, glandular aggregations, and granular pads. ( d)Profiles of the snout, on well-preserved specimens. (e)Anal ornamentation (f)Color of visceral membranes, bones and iris, best taken just after the specimen presenration (g)Calls, (h) Behavior. BE HAVIOR FALSE OCELLI HUM ERAL SPINE BULLA, a much more widespread feature The bulla was described by Myers