Honoring the Afro-Colombian musical culture with the naming ofEpipedobates [to be revealed]sp. nov. (Anura: Dendrobatidae), a frog from the Pacific rainforests

Abstract

AbstractThe number of amphibian species described yearly shows no signs of slowing down, especially in tropical regions, implying that the biodiversity of amphibians remains woefully underestimated. We describe a new species of poison frog from the Pacific lowlands of southwestern Colombia:Epipedobates [to be revealed]sp. nov., named for the Pacific music and dance genre known asbambuco viejoor[to be revealed]. This species inhabits lowland forests from 0–260 m a.s.l. This taxon differs from congeners by having a combination of bright yellow blotches in the dorsal anterior region of the thigh and upper arm, homogenous dark-brown dorsal coloration, and advertisement calls of long duration and many pulses. We also describe the courtship call ofE. [to be revealed], which is lower in frequency and shorter in duration than its advertisement call. Molecular phylogenetic analyses confirm the monophyly of the populations sampled and its position as the sister species ofEpipedobates narinensis, which occurs in southwestern Colombia. Among species ofEpipedobates, the new species has been previously confused withE. boulengeri, but we find that the two species are allopatric and represent two divergent clades (1.77% divergent for12S–16Sand 5.39% forCYTB). These species can be distinguished by the presence of a bright yellow blotch on the dorsal anterior region of the thigh and on the upper arm ofE. [to be revealed], blotches that are either more white than yellow or absent inE. boulengeri. In addition, the advertisement calls are distinct, withE. [to be revealed]having a single but long call in each call series whileE. boulengerihas 2–6 calls in a series with each call being much shorter in length.Epipedobates [to be revealed]is the most northern species ofEpipedobates, which extends southwards along the western edge of the Andes. Known as the Chocó, this biogeographic region has been largely converted to agriculture in Ecuador and is experiencing widespread transformation in Colombia, which may endangerE. [to be revealed]and biodiversity in the region. A Spanish translation of the main text is available in the Supplementary Materials.