Ross Maynard

<i>Noblella worleyae</i> new species Figure 2–6 <b>Publication LSID</b>: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub: 04BB1FF5- A8BD-43E4-BE10- F2BE767ACFE3 <b>Taxonomic act LSID</b>: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A9FF401F-BF55-4837-AAB2-4BA38B00000A Proposed standard English name. Worley´s Leaf Frog Proposed standard Spanish name. Cutín Noble de Worley<i>Holotype</i>ZSFQ 551 (Figures 3–4), adult female, collected at Río Manduriacu Reserve (0.312057°N, 78.854330°W; 1184 m, Figure 2), Cantón Cotacachi, Imbabura Province, by Ross Maynard, Paul S. Hamilton, Scott J. Trageser and José Vieira on 8 February 2018.<b>Paratypes</b> (4 males, 2 females). ZSFQ 552, adult female, collected at Río Manduriacu Reserve (0.314256°N, 78.865672°W; 1597 m), Cantón Cotacachi, Imbabura province, Ecuador, by Ross Maynard and Paul S. Hamilton on January 29 th, 2018; ZSFQ 550, adult male, collected at Río Manduriacu Reserve (0.317069°N, 78.870297°W; 1701 m), Cantón Cotacachi, Imbabura province, Ecuador, by Ross Maynard, Paul S. Hamilton, and José Vieira on 11 February 2018; ZSFQ 345, adult male, collected in the Río Manduriacu Reserve, Cantón Cotacachi, Imbabura province, Ecuador (0.310502°N, 78.856872°W; 1203 m), by Ross Maynard and Paul S. Hamilton on October 19 th, 2016; ZSFQ 2502, 2504 adult males, collected at Río Manduriacu Reserve (0.309800°N, 78.857298°W; 1206 m), Cantón Cotacachi, Imbabura province, Ecuador, by Jorge Brito M., Jaime Culebras, and Sebastián Kohn on 9 April 2017; ZSFQ 2503 adult female, collected at Río Manduriacu Reserve (0.310643°N, 78.856117°W; 1222 m), Cantón Cotacachi, Imbabura province, Ecuador, by Jorge Brito M., Jaime Culebras, and Sebastián Kohn on 10 April 2017. <i>Generic placement</i>The new species is placed in the genus <i>Noblella</i> based on morphological and molecular features. The taxon is recovered as a close relative of other <i>Noblella</i> species (Figure 1) and also matches the diagnosis of <i>Noblella</i> by Hedges [5], as follows: head no wider than body; cranial crests absent; tympanic membrane differentiated [...]

Figure 5. Dorsal and ventral color patterns of Noblella worleyae sp. nov. in life. (A, D) Dorsal pattern and ventral pattern of ZSFQ 2504, paratype, adult male, SVL = 15.5 mm; (B, E) dorsal pattern and ventral pattern of ZSFQ 2502, paratype, adult male, SVL = 15.9 mm; (C, F) dorsal pattern and ventral pattern of ZSFQ 550, paratype, adult male, SVL = 17.3 mm; (G, J) dorsal pattern and ventral pattern of ZSFQ 552, paratype, adult female, SVL = 19.1 mm; (H, K–L) dorsal pattern and ventral pattern of ZSFQ 550, paratype, adult male, SVL = 17.3 mm; (I) dorsal pattern of an uncollected specimen. Photographs by Jaime Culebras (a, b, d, e), José Vieira (c, f), Ross Maynard (g–k) and Scott Trageser (l).

Figure 4. Color variation of preserved Noblella worleyae sp. nov. (A, F) ZSFQ 551, holotype, adult female, SVL = 18.1 mm; (B, G) ZSFQ 552, paratype, adult female, SVL = 19.1 mm; (C, H) ZSFQ 550, paratype, adult male, SVL = 17.3 mm; (D, I) ZSFQ 2502, paratype, adult male, SVL = 15.9 mm; (e, j) ZSFQ 2504, paratype, adult male, SVL = 15.5 mm.

With the third most biodiverse amphibian fauna in the world, Ecuador has bolstered this claim with a particularly high rate of species descriptions in recent years. Many of the species being described are already facing anthropogenic threats despite being discovered within privately protected reserves in areas previously not sampled. Herein we describe a new species of terrestrial frog in the genus <i>Noblella</i> from the recently established Río Manduriacu Reserve, Imbabura, Ecuador. <i>Noblella worleyae</i> sp. nov. differs from its congeners by having a dorsum finely shagreen; tips of Fingers I and IV slightly acuminate, Fingers II and III acuminate, without papillae; distal phalanges of the hand slightly T-shaped; absence of distinctive suprainguinal marks; venter yellowish-cream with minute speckling and throat with irregular brown marks to homogeneously brown. We provide a detailed description of the advertisement call of the new species and present an...

Figure 1. Phylogeny of Noblella (gray box) showing the relationships of Noblella worleyae sp. nov. The phylogeny was based on mitochondrial (16S) DNA sequences. For each individual, the corresponding museum catalog number (when available) and GenBank accession number are shown.

We describe a new species of Noblella from the western slope of the Ecuadorian Andes. The new taxon is distinguished from all other species in the genus by lacking dorsal marks (i.e., interobital bar, scapular and sacral chevrons) and by having a bright orange venter. The new species and Noblella heyeri are the only species of Noblella reported in the Pacific Andean versant. We provide an osteological description of the new species and a key for the species in Noblella.

Hyalinobatrachium is a behaviorally and morphologically conserved genus of Neotropical anurans, with several pending taxonomic problems. Using morphology, vocalizations, and DNA, a new species from the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador is described and illustrated. The new species, Hyalinobatrachium yakusp. n., is differentiated from all other congenerics by having small, middorsal, dark green spots on the head and dorsum, a transparent pericardium, and a tonal call that lasts 0.27-0.4 s, with a dominant frequency of 5219.3-5329.6 Hz. Also, a mitochondrial phylogeny for the genus is presented that contains the new species, which is inferred as sister to H. pellucidum. Conservation threats to H. yakusp. n. include habitat destruction and/or pollution mainly because of oil and mining activities.

Background The Tropical Andes is the world’s most biodiverse hotspot. This region contains >1,000 amphibian species, more than half of which are endemic. Herein we describe two new glassfrog species (Centrolenidae: Hyalinobatrachium) that we discovered within relatively unexplored and isolated localities of the Ecuadorian Andes. Methods We employed morphological, acoustic, and molecular methods to test the hypothesis that Hyalinobatrachium mashpi sp. nov and H. nouns sp. nov. are species new to science. Following standard methods, we generated mitochondrial sequences (16S) of 37 individuals in the genus Hyalinobatrachium. We inferred the phylogenetic relationships of the two new species in comparison to all other glassfrogs using Maximum Likelihood. In addition to describing the call of H. mashpi sp. nov., we performed a discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) with the advertisement call characteristics of several congeners. Results Based on an integrative taxonomy a...

We describe a new species of Noblella from the western slope of the Ecuadorian Andes. The new taxon is distinguished from all other species in the genus by lacking dorsal marks (i.e., interobital bar, scapular and sacral chevrons) and by having a bright orange venter. The new species and Noblella heyeri are the only species of Noblella reported in the

“Cochranella” megista is an Endangered and rarely encountered species of glass frog that, until now, had been only registered in the Colombian Andes. Here we report this species for the first time in Ecuador, expanding its known distribution ca. 530 km south of its original range. Additionally, we include C. megista in a molecular phylogeny for the first time and unambiguously place the species in the genus Nymphargus, resulting in a new combination. Habitat in both countries is fragmented and is threatened by mining concessions and agriculture.

Herein we report the second known record of Emmochliophis fugleri Fritts & Smith, 1969, present the first color images of the species, extend its known distribution and elevational range, provide the snout–vent and tail lengths of the holotype, and demonstrate that the condition of fused prefrontals is an unreliable diagnostic character for the genus Diaphorolepis. Considering the rarity of this snake as well as the imminent threat that mining poses to the Río Manduriacu Reserve, we recommend a conservation status of Critically Endangered for E. fugleri. 

The impact of roads on the flora and fauna of Neotropical rainforest is perhaps the single biggest driver of habitat modification and population declines in these ecosystems. We investigated the road-edge effect of a low-use dirt road on amphibian and reptile abundance, diversity, and composition within adjacent lowland Amazonian rainforest at San José de Payamino, Ecuador. The road has been closed to vehicle traffic since its construction in 2010. Thus, effects from vehicle mortality, vehicle-related pollution, and road noise were not confounding factors. Herpetofauna were surveyed using both visual encounter surveys and drift fences with pitfall and funnel traps at varying distances from the road. Structural and microclimate features of the forest were measured at each sampling distance. Several habitat variables were found to differ at intermediate and interior sampling distances from the road compared to forest edge conditions, suggesting the road-edge effect began to attenuate by the intermediate sampling distance. However, the edge effect on amphibians and reptiles appeared to extend 100 m from the road edge, as abundance and diversity were significantly greater at the interior forest compared to the forest edge. Additionally, assemblage composition as well as the hierarchical position of species shifted between sampling distances. Habitat predictor models indicate that amphibian abundance was best predicted by vine abundance, while both vine and mature tree abundance were the best predictors for species richness and diversity. Overall, and contrary to what might otherwise be expected, our results demonstrate that small, little-used road disturbances can nonetheless have profound impacts on wildlife. Resumen El impacto de carreteras sobre la flora y fauna de selvas es quizás el conductor más grande de la modificación de habitat y dismiución de poblaciones. Investigamos el effecto "orilla de la carretera" en una carretera de tierra de baja utilización sobre la abundancia, diversidad, e composición de anfibios y reptiles en la selva baja Amazónico en la vecindad de San José de Payamino, Ecuador. La carretera ha sido abandonado de traffico vehicular desde su construcción en 2010, así effectos de mortalidad de vehículo, polución relacionada con vehículos, e ruido de carretera no era probable factores de confusión. La herpetofauna fue muestrada usando encuentro visual e cercas de desvío con trampas de caída e embudo a diferentes distancias del carretera. Características de estructura e microclima fueron medidas en cada lugar. Varios variables de habitat se encontraban a diferir a distancias de muestreo intermedios e interiores de la carretera a el bosque, comparada a condiciónes de la orilla del bosque. Lo que sugiere es que el effecto "orilla de la carretra" empezo a atenuar deste la distancia de muestra intermedia de la carretera a el bosque. Sin embargo, el effecto de la "orilla de la carretera" sobre la herpetofauna aparecia extender 100 m del orilla de la carretera, asi como abundancia e diversidad fueron significativamente mayor en el interior del bosque comparado con la orilla del bosque. Adicionalmente, composición de montaje tambien como posición jerárquica de especies desplazo entre distancias de muestreo. Modelos de predicción de habitat indican que abundancia de anfibios fue mejor predicha por la abundancia de vides, mientras abundancias de vides e arboles maduras fueron los mejores predictores de la diversidad de especies. Sobre todo, y contrario a lo que de todos modos sería esperado, nuestros resultados demuestran que disturbios pequeñas, poco-usadas de carreteras pueden en todo caso tener impactos profundos sobre la fauna silvestre.

Hyalinobatrachium is a behaviorally and morphologically conserved genus of Neotropical anurans, with several pending taxonomic problems. Using morphology, vocalizations, and DNA, a new species from the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador is described and illustrated. The new species, Hyalinobatrachium yaku sp. n., is differentiated from all other congenerics by having small, middorsal, dark green spots on the head and dorsum, a transparent pericardium, and a tonal call that lasts 0.27-0.4 s, with a dominant frequency of 5219.3-5329.6 Hz. Also, a mitochondrial phylogeny for the genus is presented that contains the new species, which is inferred as sister to H. pellucidum. Conservation threats to H. yaku sp. n. include habitat destruction and/or pollution mainly because of oil and mining activities.

We describe a new glassfrog from Río Manduriacu Reserve, Imbabura Province, on the Pacific slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. The new species can be distinguished from most other glassfrogs by having numerous yellow spots on the dorsum and lacking membranes among fingers. Both morphological and molecular data support the placement of the species in the genus Nymphargus. We present a new mitochondrial phylogeny of Nymphargus and discuss the speciation patterns of this genus; most importantly, recent speciation events seem to result from the effect of the linearity of the Andes. Finally, although the new species occurs within a private reserve, it is seriously endangered by mining activities; thus, following IUCN criteria, we consider the new species as Critically Endangered.