Saturday, March 19, 2016

[Herpetology • 2016] Psychrophrynella chirihampatu • A New Species of Psychrophrynella (Anura, Craugastoridae) from the Humid Montane Forests of Cusco, eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes


  Psychrophrynella chirihampatu
Catenazzi & Ttito, 2016

Figure 4: Dorsolateral and ventral views of paratypes oPsychrophrynella chirihampatu sp. n. showing variation in dorsal and ventral coloration. 
Male MHNC 14656 (A, B), Tambo Japu. Male MHNC 14667 (C, D), type locality.  Female CORBIDI 16499 (G, H), type locality.
Photographs by A. Catenazzi.     DOI:  10.7717/peerj.1807

Abstract
We describe a new species of Psychrophrynella from the humid montane forest of the Department Cusco in Peru. Specimens were collected at 2,670–3,165 m elevation in the Área de Conservación Privada Ukumari Llakta, Japumayo valley, near Comunidad Campesina de Japu, in the province of Paucartambo. The new species is readily distinguished from all other species of Psychrophrynella but P. bagrecito and P. usurpator by possessing a tubercle on the inner edge of the tarsus, and from these two species by its yellow ventral coloration on abdomen and limbs. Furthermore, the new species is like P. bagrecito and P. usurpator in having an advertisement call composed of multiple notes, whereas other species of Psychrophrynella whose calls are known have a pulsed call (P. teqta) or a short, tonal call composed of a single note. The new species has a snout-vent length of 16.1–24.1 mm in males and 23.3–27.7 mm in females. Like other recently described species in the genus, this new Psychrophrynella inhabits high-elevation forests in the tropical Andes and likely has a restricted geographic distribution.

Keywords: Cloud forest, Psychrophrynella chirihampatu, Chytrid fungus, Bioacoustics, Frog, Leaf litter amphibian, Paucartambo


Etymology. The name of the new species is a combination of Quechua words used in apposition meaning “toad” (“hampa’tu”) that lives in the “cold” (“chiri”). The name is a wordplay built upon the genus and species names sharing the same meaning of “frog inhabiting cold environments,” because the generic name Psychrophrynella derives from the Greek psychros (cold) and phrynos (toad).


Figure 4: Dorsolateral and ventral views of four paratypes of Psychrophrynella chirihampatu sp. n. showing variation in dorsal and ventral coloration. 
Male MHNC 14656 (A, B), Tambo Japu. Male MHNC 14667 (C, D), type locality. 
Female CORBIDI 16502 (E, F), Playa camp site. Female CORBIDI 16499 (G, H), type locality. 
Photographs by A. Catenazzi.   DOI:  10.7717/peerj.1807

Alessandro Catenazzi and Alex Ttito. 2016. A New Species of Psychrophrynella (Amphibia, Anura, Craugastoridae) from the Humid Montane Forests of Cusco, eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes. PeerJ. 4:e1807; DOI:  10.7717/peerj.1807