A new species of semiarboreal toad with a Salamander-LikeEar (Anura: Bufonidae: Rhinella)

摘要

We describe a new species of the Rhinella acrolopha group (previously Rhamphophryne) frommid-elevations (1800–2500 m) of the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia. It is found exclusively in cloudforest habitats and is not associated with streams or other bodies of water. The species is characterized bypossessing eight presacral vertebrae, fusion of the sacrum and urostyle, and nuptial excrescences in adultmales, and in lacking conspicuous cranial ornamentation and vocal slits. The most striking characteristic ofthis species is its middle ear, which lacks a tympanic membrane and annulus but possesses a short stapes thatarticulates with the palatoquadrate and squamosal in a manner similar to the middle ear of manysalamanders. A population of this species in the Serran´ıa de los Paraguas seems to be stable despite drasticdeclines in many sympatric species.