Our lab contributed a new species of small strabomantid frog (Holoadeninae) with the description of Psychrophrynella glauca from the southern Peruvian department of Puno. These frogs breed on land and lay eggs in moist places in the leaf litter. There is no tadpole stage and the embryos develop entirely within the egg. Small froglets abandon the nest once they hatch, but one or both of the parents (unknown in this species) may guard the egg nest and protect it from desiccation and predators. With the discovery of P. glauca, the geographic distribution of Psychrophrynella is extended to the Department of Puno, where it was no longer represented after the description of the genus Microkayla. Furthermore, the Cordillera de Carabaya is the only mountain range known to be home to four of the seven genera of Holoadeninae (Bryophryne, Microkayla, Noblella, and Psychrophrynella), suggesting an intriguing evolutionary history for this group in southern Peru.
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March 2023
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