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Type: Article
Published: 2017-01-16
Page range: 71–94
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A new species of poison-dart frog (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from Manu province, Amazon region of southeastern Peru, with notes on its natural history, bioacoustics, phylogenetics, and recommended conservation status

The Crees Foundation, Mariscal Gamarra, B–5, Zona–1, 2da Etapa, Cusco, Perú. Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco (UNSAAC), Av. de la Cultura, Nro. 733, Cusco - Perú.
Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, UK.
The Crees Foundation, Mariscal Gamarra, B–5, Zona–1, 2da Etapa, Cusco, Perú.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 2051 Ruthven Museums Building, 1109 Geddes Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa (MUSA), Av. La Pampilla s/n, Cercado, Arequipa, Perú.
Section of Amphibians and Reptiles Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15213–4080, USA.
Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa (MUSA), Av. La Pampilla s/n, Cercado, Arequipa, Perú.
Amphibia Advertisement call Amarakaeri Communal Reserve Ameerega habitat Manu Biosphere Reserve premontane forest rainforest taxonomy

Abstract

We describe and name a new species of poison-dart frog from the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Manu Province, Madre de Dios Department, Peru; specifically within the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve and the buffer zone of Manu National Park. Ameerega shihuemoy sp. nov. is supported by a unique combination of characters: black dorsum with cream to light orange dorsolateral lines, blue belly reticulated with black, and the lack of axillary, thigh and calf flash marks. Within Ameerega, it shares the general appearance of A. altamazonica, A. boliviana, A. hahneli, A. ignipedis, A. petersi, A. picta, A. pongoensis, A. pulchripecta, A. simulans, A. smaragdina, and A. yungicola; each possessing a granular black to brown dorsum, a light labial bar, a conspicuous dorsolateral line running from the snout to the groin, and a metallic blue belly and underside of arms and hind limbs. From most of these species it can be distinguished by lacking flash marks on the axillae, thighs, and calves (absent in only A. boliviana and A. smaragdina, most A. petersi, and some A. pongoensis), by having bright cream to orange dorsolateral stripes (white, intense yellow, or green in all other species, with the exception of A. picta), and by its blue belly reticulated with black (bluish white and black in A. boliviana, green and blue with black marbling in A. petersi, and green and blue lacking black marbling in A. smaragdina). Its mating call also shows clear differences to morphologically similar species, with a lower note repetition rate, longer space between calls, and higher fundamental and dominant frequencies. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S mitochondrial rRNA fragment also support the distinctiveness of the new species and suggest that A. shihuemoy is most closely related to Ameerega macero, A. altamazonica, A. rubriventris, and two undescribed species (Ameerega sp. from Porto Walter, Acre, Brazil, and Ameerega sp. from Ivochote, Cusco, Peru). Genetically, the new species is most similar to the sympatric A. macero, from which it clearly differs in characteristics of its advertisement call and coloration. The new species is found near rocky streams during the dry season and near temporary water bodies during the rainy season. Tadpoles are found in lentic water along streams, or in shallow, slow-moving streams. Given its small geographic range, we recommend that A. shihuemoy should be considered 'Near threatened' (NT) according to IUCN Red List criteria.

 

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