This month's lab contribution to amphibian biodiversity is the description of a new species of toad from the montane forests of northern Peru: Rhinella moralesi. Along with collaborators Edgar Lehr, Juan Carlos Cusi, Lily Rodriguez, Pablo Venegas and Luis Alberto Garcia, we name the new species to honor the memory of the late Peruvian herpetologist Victor Morales, who at the time of his untimely death was professor at Universidad Ricardo Palma in Lima.
We tentatively assign the new species to the Rhinella festae species Group based on morphological similarities with its other 19 members. It is characterised by large size (maximum SVL 91.6 mm in females), a pointed and protruding snout that is posteroventrally inclined, absence of a visible tympanic annulus and tympanic membrane, long parotoid glands in contact with upper eyelid, presence of a dorsolateral row of enlarged tubercles, outer dorsolateral tarsus surface with a subconical ridge of fused tubercles, and absence of subgular vocal sac and vocal slits in males.
The species has been observed in both the San Martin and Amazonas departments, at elevations around 1700-2300 m a.s.l. At one of the locations, at least one specimen was infected with the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which has caused population declines and extirpations in many species of toads (Bufonidae family). It is unclear what effect this pathogen has on Rhinella moralesi.
The article appeared today in the open-access journal Taxonomy.
We tentatively assign the new species to the Rhinella festae species Group based on morphological similarities with its other 19 members. It is characterised by large size (maximum SVL 91.6 mm in females), a pointed and protruding snout that is posteroventrally inclined, absence of a visible tympanic annulus and tympanic membrane, long parotoid glands in contact with upper eyelid, presence of a dorsolateral row of enlarged tubercles, outer dorsolateral tarsus surface with a subconical ridge of fused tubercles, and absence of subgular vocal sac and vocal slits in males.
The species has been observed in both the San Martin and Amazonas departments, at elevations around 1700-2300 m a.s.l. At one of the locations, at least one specimen was infected with the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which has caused population declines and extirpations in many species of toads (Bufonidae family). It is unclear what effect this pathogen has on Rhinella moralesi.
The article appeared today in the open-access journal Taxonomy.
RSS Feed