Three new species of Pristimantis (Lissamphibia, Anura) from montane forests of the Cordillera Yanachaga in Central Peru

Abstract

We describe three additional new species of Pristimantis from the Cordillera Yanachaga, a part of the Andes in central Peru. Analyses of DNA sequences of the mitochondrial rRNA genes show that one species is a close relative of P. bipunctatus (P. conspicillatus Group), another is a close relative of P. stictogaster (P. peruvianus Group), and the third is related to several species in the P. unistrigatus Group. The first two species are morphologically similar to their closest relatives but occur at lower elevations. Twenty-nine species of Pristimantis and Phrynopus are known from the vicinity of the Cordillera Yanachaga. The number of species, especially of Pristimantis, is high in the humid montane forest in comparison with other sites in humid montane forests in Peru, but the number is lower than on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador.