Herpetologists' League

Two New Species of Poison-Dart Frogs (Colostethus) from Colombia

Author(s): John Lynch
Source: Herpetologica, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Sep., 1982), pp. 366-374
Published by: Herpetologists' League
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366 HERPETOLOGICA [Vol. 38, No. `3

LITERATURE CITED SMITH, H. M., AND M. ALVAREZDEL TORO. 1977.

A new troglodytic lizard (Reptilia, Lacertilia,
BEZY, R. L. 1972. Karyotypicvariation and evo- Xantusiidae) from Mexico. J. Herpetol. 11:37-40.
lution of the lizards in the family Xantusiidae. STANISLAWSKI,D. 1947. Tarascan political geog-
Contrib. Sci. 227:1-29. raphy. Amer. Anthropol.49:46-55.
1973. A new species of the genus Lepi-
dophyma (Reptilia: Xantusiidae) from Guatema- Accepted: 22 February 1982
la. Contrib. Sci. 239:1-7. Associate Editor: Stephen Tilley
MAUrZ, W. J., AND W. LOPEZ-FORMENT. 1978. RLB: Section of Herpetology, Natural
Observations on the activity and diet of the cav-
ernicolous lizard Lepidophyma smithii (Sauria: History Museum of Los Angeles County,
Xantusiidae). Herpetologica 34:311-313. Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA; RGW: De-
SAVAGE, J. M. 1963. Studies on the lizard family partment of Biological Sciences, Univer-
XantusiidaeIV. The genera. Los Angeles Co. Mus. sity of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Contrib. Sci. 71:1-38. 79968, USA; TA: Escuela Nacional de
SMITH, H. M. 1973. A tentative rearrangementof
the lizards of the genus Lepidophyma. J. Her- Ciencias Biolo'gicas, Instituto Polite'cni-
petol. 7:109-123. co Nacional, Me'xico17, D.F., Me'xico

Herpetologica, 38(3), 1982, 366-374

? 1982 by The Herpetologists' League, Inc.

TWO NEW SPECIES OF POISON-DART FROGS

(COLOSTETHUS) FROM COLOMBIA
JOHN LYNCH

ABSTRACT: Two dendrobatids, provisionally assigned to Colostethus, are named from the
Cordillera Oriental of Colombia near Bogota, Colombia. Both species differ from other Colo-
stethus in lacking the vocal slits and in having elongate anal sheaths. One species is cavemic-
olous and occurs at elevations above 3000 m (caves within paramos).The other species occurs
along mountain streams in areas once supportinghigh altitude cloud forests (elevations ca. 2400-
2800 m).
Key words: Amphibia; Salientia; Dendrobatidae; Colostethus; Colombia; High altitude;
Troglodytic; Relationships

DENDROBATID frogs of the genus Co- dorsolateral, lateral (= oblique), and/or

lostethus are considered the most primi-
tive members of the poison-dart frog fam-
ily (Edwards, 1974; Lynch, 1971; Noble,
1931). Edwards (1974) recognized 62
species distributed through forested (plus
paramo) environments of the Neotropics
from Costa Rica and Tobago south to Bo-
livia and to eastern and southeastern
Brasil. The frogs included in the genus
by Edwards have toe discs and pads, ob-
vious scutes atop the digital pads, pre-
maxillary/maxillarydentition, and usual-
ly drab patterns involving pale
ventrolateralstripes. These features (most
of which are synapomorphies of the fam-
ily or a more inclusive group) are com-
bined with the absence of pumiliotox-
in-C class alkaloids [(found in all
Dendrobates + Phyllobates; Myers et al.,
1978) = skin toxins auctorum] to "de-
fine" Colostethus.
In 1979, Sr. Vladimir Corredorand Dr.
Pedro M. Ruiz showed me some peculiar
frogs collected at various mountain sites
in the vicinity of Bogota by staff and stu-
dents from the Instituto de Ciencias Na-

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September 1982]
FIG. 1.-Anal sheath in Colostethus ruizi (a) posterior view, (b) lateral view, semi-diagrammatic,ICN
5419. Line equals 5 mm.
turales. The material from one site (Las
Moyas caves) was obtained incidentally
to surveys on bats. The occurrence of frogs
in caves is uncommon and thus in 1980,
with Dr. Alberto Cadena and Sr. Juan M.
Renjifo, I collected adults, young and
tadpoles in the caves in the paramo
northeast of Bogota.
Two species of frogs are included in
the available samples. One occurs in
caves in the p'aramos found on the chain
of mountains immediately west of the
capital of Colombia. The other species is
known from streams near the Alto de San
Miguel on the old road from Bogota to
Fusagasuga (SE of Bogota). The two frogs
share a unique character-state (anal open-
ing extended to mid-level of lower-level
of thighs by an anal sheath, Fig. 1), a pos-
sibly paedomorphic trait (absence of vo-
cal slits and sac), and a variety of unre-
solved character-states (drab color pattern
lacking stripes; narrow digital pads with
poorly developed scutes; basal toe web-
bing; smooth to feebly warty skin on the
lower back; lack inner tarsal fold and tu-
bercle; relatively large, metamorphosis at
17-22 mm SVL, adult females 32.0-37.3
mm SVL).
The presence of an anal sheath is suf-
ficient to unite these two species as a dis-
tinct group within the Dendrobatidae.
Although further study of frogs of this
group and Colostethus will probably
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HERPETOLOGICA 367
support their generic separation from
Colostethus, I am describing each as
Colostethus pending systematic revision
of that paraphyletic genus.
The following abbreviations are used
in the paper: E-N, eye to nostril distance;
HW, head width; IOD, interorbital dis-
tance; SVL, snout-vent length; chord of
head length is the distance from the tip
of the snout to the angle of the jaw. All
specimens are deposited in the amphib-
ian collection of the Instituto de Ciencias
Naturales (ICN), Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Bogota.
Colostethus edwardsi sp. nov.
Holotype.-ICN 6376, an adult female
obtained from Cueva de Las Moyas, 0.7
km SW Los Patios, vereda Las Mollas (=
Moyas?), municipio La Calera, Departa-
mento Cundinamarca, Colombia, 3030 m,
on 16 August 1980 by John D. Lynch and
Juan Manuel Renjifo.
Paratypes.-ICN 6377-90, 8561, 8563,
topotypes; ICN 8560, p'aramo Cruz Verde,
carretera a Choachi, municipio de
Choachi, Depto. Cundinamarca, Colom-
bia.
Referred specimens. ICN 2770, para-
mo Cruz Verde, camino a Choachi; ICN
6391 (two tadpoles), 8562, 8564, topo-
types.
Diagnosis.-A dendrobatid distin-
guished from all others except C. ruizi by
368 HERPETOLOGICA [Vol. 38, No. 3

a 0o 7

FIG. 2. Plantarviews of left hind feet of (a) Colostethus edwardsi, ICN 6376, and (b) Colostethus ruizi,
ICN 5418. Line equals 2 mm.

the possession of an anal sheath opening
at mid-level of thighs and distinguished
from C. ruizi in having a brown venter
spotted with white, in having more ex-
tensive toe webbing (Fig. 2), a shorter
snout, and in having a nearly completely
concealed tympanum.
Description.-Head narrower than to
as wide as body, wider than long; snout
round to ovoid in dorsal view, rounded
in lateral profile, nostrils small, not pro-
tuberant, directed dorsolaterally with
slight anterior vector; canthus rostralis
rounded, scarcely evident; loreal region
weakly concave, sloping abruptly to lips;
lips not flared; nostrils essentially at tip
of snout; snout very short (Fig. 3); inter-
orbital space flat, broader than width of

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September 19821
FIG 3. Profiles of heads of (a) Colostethus edwardsi, ICN 6376, and (b) Colostethus ruizi, ICN 5417.
Line equals 2 mm.
upper eyelid, no tubercles on head; no
supratympanic fold; tympanum nearly
completely concealed, only anteroventral
portion evident, directed posterolaterally
with slight dorsal vector; postrictal tu-
bercles not evident; choanae large, round,
not concealed by palatal shelf of maxil-
lary arch; no vomerine odontophores or
teeth; tongue slightly longer than wide,
its posterior border not notched, poste-
rior two-fifths not adherent to floor of
mouth; males lack vocal sac and slits;
premaxillae and maxillae bearing numer-
ous medially curved pointed teeth.
Skin of dorsum smooth or finely sha-
greened and bearing low warts; warts
more distinct in males than in females;
no folds on dorsum; skin of ventral sur-
faces smooth; anal opening extended in
a sheath opening at mid-levels of thighs;
no enlarged warts in vicinity of anal
opening; no ulnar fold or tubercles; pal-
mar tubercle round, slightly larger than
oval thenar tubercle; no supernumerary
palmar tubercles; subarticular tubercles
round, flat; fingers lack lateral fringes
(only slight hint of lateral keels); third
finger of male not swollen; tips of digits
not wider than digit proximalto tip; slight
hint of pair of scutes atop digit tips; first
finger much longer than second; thumbs
of breeding males not swollen, not bear-
ing nuptial pads.
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HERPETOLOGICA 369
No tubercles on knee, heel, or tarsus,
no folds on tarsus; inner metatarsal tu-
bercle nearly twice as long as wide, flat,
at least four times size of subconical,
round, outer metatarsal tubercle; no su-
pernumerary plantar tubercles; subarti-
cular tubercles low, round; basal subar-
ticular tubercle of the toe IV not evident;
digit tips not expanded to form pads; tops
of digit tips bearing ill-defined scutes;
toes bearing prominent lateral fringes
which broaden proximally and coalesce
forming basal webbing (Fig. 2); webbing
formula (following Savage and Heyer,
1967) I 1-V IIF/3-11/3 III 1-21/4 IV 21/4-
1+ V, webbing incised, no outer metatar-
sal fold; when hind legs are flexed and
held at right angles to sagittal plane, heels
touch.
Pale brown above with large brown
spots (often appearing light-centered be-
cause of wart in spot); spots sometimes
so dense that frog appears dark brown
with pale brown reticulation (Fig. 4);
limbs barred in specimens with discrete
spots (bars as wide as interspaces and
transverse on shanks); flanks darker than
dorsum, spotted with pale brown; throat,
venter and underside of limbs brown with
cream spots, undersides of hands and feet,
lateral margin of forearm, posterior mar-
gin of undersides of thighs, undersides of
shanks and tarsi dark brown without spots.
370
FIG.4.-Colostethus edwardsi, (left) ICN 6376, 37.3 mm SVL, (right) ICN 6377, 27.5 mm SVL.
In the smaller individuals, the ventral
surfaces are cream with brown spots; in
slightly larger frogs, cream with brown
reticulation, and in the adults, brown with
cream spots. Concealed limb surfaces
mottled cream and brown (or brown and
darker brown).
In life, C. edwardsi is medium brown
with dark brown spots above; largest in-
dividuals have hints of yellowish dorso-
lateral stripes from eye to above arm; lips
spotted white or pale yellow; hidden sur-
faces of limbs dark olive to pale brown
with brown spots; venter olive to brown
with yellow spots (throat more pale);
slight orange wash on throat and under-
sides of limbs; iris bright copper with
black reticulations and black horizontal
streak.
Measurements of holotype in mm.-
SVL 37.3, tibia 14.8, HW 12.3, head length
9.5, chord of head length 11.3, upper eye-
lid width 2.1, IOD 3.2, eye length 3.8, E-
N 2.2.
Variation.-Too few specimens are
available to assess differences in propor-
tions between sexes. Two adult males are
27.5-27.6 mm SVL, two gravid females
are 30.8 and 37.3 mm SVL. Proportions
are as follows: tibia/SVL 38.8-44.4 (x=
40.9, n = 5) %; HW/SVL 33.0-34.4 (x =
33.4, n = 4) %; eyelid/IOD 60.7-87.5 (x =
71.2, n = 4) %; E-N/eye 56.2-65.6 (x =
60.4, n = 4) %; based on two adult males,
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HERPETOLOGICA [Vol. 38, No. 3
two adult females, and one juvenile fe-
male (ICN 6377, 27.5 mm SVL).
Larvae.-(based on ICN 6391, a lot of
two free-swimming tadpoles, in devel-
opment stage 25; Gosner, 1960). Body
lengths 22.5 and 19.8 mm, total lengths
51.3 and 47.4 mm; body depth three-
fourths greatest body width, deepest and
broadest posteriorly; in dorsal view, body
an elongate ellipse with a rounded snout;
in profile snout round, nostrils directed
anterolaterally, about midway between
eyes and tip of snout; eyes small, dorso-
lateral, broadly separated; spiracle sinis-
tral; cloacal tube short, opening dextral;
caudal musculature deep, extending
nearly to tip of broadly rounded tail; cau-
dal fins not extending onto body; dorsal
and ventral fins about of equal depth, ex-
cept on anterior 1/4of tail where dorsal fin
is very low, each fin about 1/2 depth of
caudal musculature at midlength of tail;
tail fins not tapering.
Mouth small, directed anteroventrally,
median 2/5 of upper lip lacking papillae;
rest of mouth bordered by two rows of
small labial papillae; lips indented pos-
terolaterally, beaks moderately robust,
bearing numerous sharp serrations; up-
per beak with long slender lateral pro-
cesses; lower beak broadly V-shaped, two
upper rows of denticles, inner row nar-
rowly interrupted medially in larger tad-
pole, not interrupted in smaller individ-
September 1982]
0000 Q~~~~~~~~~00A
FIG. 5.-Mouth of tadpole of Colostethus ed-
wardsi, ICN 6391. Line equals 1 mm.
ual; three lower rows of denticles, all
complete, third lower row shorter than
other two (Fig. 5).
In life, body brown above, throat and
venter transparent, caudal musculature
pale olive or cream, heavily spotted with
brown; caudal fins spotted with brown.
Ecological notes.-ICN 6376-91 were
captured in a cave within 30 m of its en-
trance but all specimens encountered
were found in areas away from light. Ju-
veniles were found beneath rocks in shal-
low streams (2-3 cm deep) leading into
the larger stream (0.1-0.5 m deep) as well
as swimming in the larger stream. The
holotype was swimming in a pool 0.5 m
deep. Many tadpoles were seen in the
larger stream, especially in deeper pools
(0.3-0.5 m). Vladimir Corredor collected
specimens on two occasions in the p'ara-
mo Cruz Verde. The frogs were first en-
countered at the edges of fissures in the
soil, but they attempted escape by hop-
ping into streams in the fissures. These
fissures lead to caves too small to permit
entry of a collector. Reaching into the fis-
sures resulted in captures of a juvenile
and an adult male. Although Sr. Corredor
pursued frogs seen at the surface, other
frogs were seen with the aid of a head-
lamp deep in the fissures. Presumably the
frogs seen at the surface are conspecific
with those captured in the fissures.
The only other frogs found in Cueva de
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HERPETOLOGICA 371
Las Moyas are Hyla bogotensis. Adults,
subadults and especially larvae have been
found in the cave. Metamorphosed frogs
are found on rocks and cave walls; they
escape by jumping into the deeper pools.
The surface fauna includes Colostethus
subpunctatus, Eleutherodactylus bogo-
tensis, E. elegans, Hyla bogotensis and
H. labialis.
Etymology.-Named for my colleague,
Stephen R. Edwards, long-time student
of Colostethus.
Distribution.-Known only from the
mountain range immediately east of Bo-
gota at elevations of 3030 m and approx-
imately 3300 m in subterranean sites.
Colostethus ruizi sp. nov.
Holotype.-ICN 5419, an adult male
obtained "on the border of a stream,
[along] the road to Fusagasuga, between
[Alto de] San Miguel and La Aguadita,"
Departamento Cundinamarca, Colombia,
on 1 December 1979 by J. Clavijo and A.
Fajardo.
Paratypes.-ICN 5415-18, taken with
holotype; ICN 4838-39, Alto de San
Miguel, Departamento Cundinamarca,
Colombia, 2640 m.
Type-locality.-The collectors' notes
are imprecise ("carretera a Fusa, entre San
Miguel-La Aguadita"). Between the Alto
de San Miguel and Aguadita, one finds
three streams. One lies a few hundred
meters above La Aguadita, a second lies
on the northeast edge of Aguadita. The
third is the Quebrada Agua Bonita, 14.4
km (by road) SW Sibate, municipio Sil-
vania, 2410 m (between km 21-22, ca-
rretera Bogota-Fusagasuga), the first
stream below the Alto de San Miguel. At
this stream, I saw Colostethus tadpoles'
in May and June 1981 but was unable to
catch examples. Quebrada Agua Bonita is
probably the source of the specimens ob-
tained by Clarijo and Fajardo.
Diagnosis.-Allied to C. edwardsi but
differing in having a dusky cream venter
without spots, less toe webbing (not en-
closing subarticular tubercle on second
toe, reaching between subarticular tuber-
372 HERPETOLOGICA
cles on third and fifth toes, see Fig. 2), a
longer snout (Fig. 3), and in having an
only partially concealed tympanum.
Description.-Head narrower than to
as wide as body, wider than long; snout
ovoid in dorsal view, flat and rounded in
lateral profile; nostrils small and slightly
protuberant, directed dorsolaterally; can-
thus rostralis rounded but evident,
straight; loreal region weakly concave,
sloping abruptly to lips; lips not flared;
nostrils nearer to tip of snout than to eye;
snout short (Fig. 3); interorbitalspace flat,
broader than width of upper eyelid; up-
per eyelids and skin of head bearing low
warts, none enlarged; supratympanicfold
obscure, greatly thickened, obscuring
posterodorsal one-third of tympanum;
tympanum round, directed anterolateral-
ly (with slight posterior vector), separat-
ed from eye by distance equal to its
length; postrictal tubercles not evident;
choanae large, longer than wide (tear-
drop-shaped), not concealed by palatal
shelf of maxillary arch; no vomerine
odontophores or teeth; tongue twice as
long as wide, its posterior border feebly
notched, posterior two-fifths not adherent
to floor of mouth; males lack vocal slits
and vocal sac; premaxillae and maxillae
bearing numerous medially curved
pointed teeth.
Skin of dorsum and upper surfaces of
limbs finely shagreened; round warts su-
perimposed on shagreened dorsum on
lower back of adult male holotype but not
on adult females or other adult male; no
folds on dorsum; skin of ventral surfaces
smooth; anal opening extended in a
sheath opening at mid-level of thighs; no
enlarged warts in vicinity of anal open-
ing; forearm robust, lacking ulnar fold or
tubercles; palmar tubercle round, twice
size of oval thenar; no supernumerary
palmar tubercles; subarticular tubercles
round, not pungent; sharp lateral keels
on fingers but no fringes; third finger of
male not swollen; tips of digits swollen
forming rounded pads, pads only slightly
wider than digit; tops of digital pads
bearing obscure scutes; first finger longer
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[Vol. 38, No. 3
than second; thumbs of breeding males
not swollen, not bearing nuptial pads.
No tubercles on knee, heel or tarsus;
outer edge of tarsus lacking fold or tu-
bercles; inner tarsal fold evident only as
slightly thickened area (no fold is pres-
ent, at least not the sort of fold ending in
a sickle-shaped tubercle typical of Colo-
stethus); inner metatarsal tubercle low,
twice as long as wide, three times size of
rounded outer metatarsaltubercle; no su-
pernumerary plantar tubercles; subar-
ticular tubercles round, low; digit tips
bearing slightly expanded pads on whose
dorsal surfaces one finds an ill-defined
pair of scutes (not separated by groove);
lateral margins of toes bearing fringes
which coalesce at bases of toes forming
basal webbing (Fig. 2); webbing formu-
lae (following Savage and Heyer, 1967) I
1-1+ II 1--2- III 12/3-22/3 IV 23/4- 11/2
V, webbing incised; no outer metatarsal
fold; when hind legs are flexed and held
at right angles to sagittal plane, heels do
not touch.
Dark brown above flecked with even
darker brown or black; slightly paler
stripe from eye to above insertion of up-
per arm (remnant of dorsolateral stripe?);
similar stripes around snout; a few pale
spots along lower lip to base of arm;throat
brown; venter (including undersides of
arms and legs) dirty cream; undersides of
hands and feet, concealed surfaces of
limbs, lateral margins of forearms, and
posterior margins of undersides of thighs
dark brown.
Measurements of holotype in mm.-
SVL 35.2, tibia 14.6, HW 11.7, head length
9.3, chord of head length 11.2, upper eye-
lid width 2.5, IOD 2.9, tympanum length
1.1, eye length 3.8, E-N 2.4.
Variation.-Both males lack obvious
patterns. They have vague partial dorso-
lateral stripes (anterior 1/3 of body), fleck-
ing or mottling on the dorsum, darker
flanks than dorsum and no limb bands.
ICN 4838 and 5418 are yellow-brown
with small brown spots. Both have limb
bars (oblique, as wide as interspaces on
shanks). Both have short dorsolateral
September 1982]
stripes. The other two females (5416-17)
are colored like the males except no dor-
solateral stripes are apparent. The ventral
surfaces of ICN 4838 are pale. The throat
is dusted with brown contrasting with the
cream venter. ICN 4839 is a recently
metamorphosed young (17.2 mm SVL).
The dark flecking of the dorsum is only
feebly indicated and there is a pale retic-
ulation across the breast.
Too few specimens are available to as-
sess differences in proportions between
sexes. Two adult males are 34.4 and 35.2
mm SVL, three adult females are 32.0,
34.8 and 38.5 mm SVL. Proportions are
as follows: tibia/SVL 37.9-46.2 (i = 41.4,
n = 6) %; HW/SVL 32.2-35.2 (x = 33.5,
n = 6) %; eyelid/IOD 62.5-86.2 (i = 73.4,
n = 3) %; tympanum/eye 28.9-36.8 (x =
33.2, n = 6) %; E-N/eye 54.8/69.7 (x =
62.3, n = 6) %;based on two adult males,
three adult females, and one juvenile fe-
male (ICN 5418, 29.8 mm SVL).
Ecological notes.-ICN 5415-19 were
taken in December beneath rocks along
a stream.The two adult females are spent.
ICN 4838, a gravid female, was obtained
in March 1978.
Etymology.-Named for my friend and
colleague, Pedro Ruiz, who found the first
specimens.
Other frogs found at the QuebradaAgua
Bonita and/or vicinity of Alto de San
Miguel include Atelopus subornatus,
Colostethus sp., Eleutherodactylus bo-
gotensis, E. sp. and Hyla bogotensis.
Distribution.-Known only from the
vicinity of the Alto de San Miguel (ap-
prox. 4?25' N, 74?18' W), in cloud forests
on the western slopes of the Cordillera
Oriental, Departamento Cundinamarca,
Colombia, 2410-2469 m.
DISCUSSION
Colostethus edwardsi and C. ruizi are
peculiar within the family Dendrobati-
dae for at least two reasons: no other
member of the family has an anal sheath
and all other dendrobatids have inner tar-
sal folds and/or tubercles-one of which
refers to the absence of a characteristic
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HERPETOLOGICA 373
and is thus subject to cautious interpre-
tation. The absence of the subgular vocal
sac and vocal slits is unique with Colo-
stethus and nearly so within the Dendro-
batidae, but Myers (1982:5) recently
reported the absence of vocal slits in
Dendrobates reticulatus and variable
presence in D. quinquevittatus. No fea-
ture is known that unites the 60 plus
species now placed in Colostethus, and
ratherthan encumber future research with
a possibly needless name, I am assigning
the two species to Colostethus.
Colostethus edwardsi and C. ruizi are
more similar to one another than either
is to any other dendrobatid species
known. This observation is insufficient to
support a hypothesis that the two phe-
notypically distinct forms are subspecies
of a single species. Because interpopu-
lational variation is not bridged by intra-
populational variation, the geographical-
ly and ecologically isolated populations
are most parsimoniously represented by
a hypothesis that these are distinct
species. Extensive collecting in the Cor-
dillera Oriental is necessary in order to
accumulate sufficient evidence to dis-
criminate between the possible hypoth-
eses.
LITERATURE CITED
EDWARDS, S. R. 1974. A Phenetic Analysis of the
Genus Colostethus (Anura:Dendrobatidae).Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Kansas.
GOSNER, K. L. 1960. A simplified table for staging
anuran embryos and larvae with notes on iden-
tification. Herpetologica 16:183-190.
LYNCH, J. D. 1971. Evolutionary relationships,
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SAVAGE, J. M., AND W. R. HEYER. 1967. Variation Accepted: 15 April 1982

and distribution of the tree-frog genus Phyllo-
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Herpetologica, 38(3), 1982, 374-380

? 1982 by The Herpetologists' League, Inc.

A NEW FROG OF THE GENUS PTYCHOHYLA(HYLIDAE)

FROM THE SIERRA DE LAS MINAS, GUATEMALA
WILLiAM E. DUELLMAN AND JONATHAN A. CAMPBELL

ABSTRACT: Ptychohyla panchoi is named from the upper tropical moist forest on the Sierra
de las Minas in Guatemala. A phylogenetic arrangement of the species of Ptychohyla shows P.
panchoi to be intermediate between species in the P. euthysanota group and the P. schmidtorum
group.
Key words: Amphibia; Anura; Hylidae; Ptychohyla panchoi sp. nov.; Guatemala

STREAM-BREEDING frogs of the genus the knowledge of Middle American her-

Ptychohyla are distributed along the At-
lantic and Pacific versants of southern
Me,xico and northern Central America.
Two species groups are recognized: the
schmidtorum group consisting of P.
schmidtorum and P. ignicolor, and the
euthysanota group comprised of P. spini-
pollex, P. leonhardschultzei and P. eu-
thysanota (Duellman, 1970). These five
species are clearly allocatable into their
respective groups on the basis of distinc-
tive characters of finger webbing, nuptial
excrescences, tarsal folds, call and larval
morphology (Duellman 1961, 1963).
Recent collecting on the northern
slopes of the eastern portion of the Sierra
de las Minas in Guatemala has revealed
the presence of two species of Ptycho-
hyla-P. spinipollex and an apparently
new species. Placement of this unde-
scribed species into either group is not
possible owing to its unique combination
of characters, some of which are shared
with both groups. We are pleased to name
this frog in honor of Dr. L. C. (Don Pan-
cho) Stuart,who has helped both of us in
our careers and whose contributions to
petogeography are legendary.
Ptychohyla panchoi sp. nov.
Holotype.-University of Kansas Mu-
seum of Natural History (KU) 190330, an
adult male, taken at Aldea Vista Hermo-
sa, Municipio Los Amates, Departamento
de Izabal, Guatemala; one of a series tak-
en 31 January 1981 by J. A. Campbell.
Original number JAC 5651. Vista Her-
mosa is situated on the northern escarp-
ment of the Sierra de las Minas at ap-
proximately 15?17' N, 89?13' W, at an
elevation of 600 m.
Paratypes.-(18) All from the vicinity
of the type locality, collected by J. A.
Campbell and R. F. Savage; KU 190327-
29, 190331-36, adult males, same date as
holotype, at elevations of 550-600 m; KU
190338-39, adult males, taken 17-18 No-
vember 1980, 550 m; KU 190342-45, adult
males, 19 February 1981, 650 m; KU
190337, adult female, 31 January 1981,
600 m; and KU 190340-41, juveniles, 19
November 1980, 550 m.
Diagnosis.-A moderate-sized species
that is distinguishable from members of

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