New Frog Species from Colima and Jalisco

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Don Cascabel
Posts: 201
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:44 am
Location: Colima, México

New Frog Species from Colima and Jalisco

Post by Don Cascabel »

Check it out... we discoverd a couple new frogs and they named one after me! Good stuff.

Here's the blurb:

On July 18th, 2005 a field party consisting of Jacobo Reyes-Velasco, Tim Burkhardt and Chris Grünwald set out to sample a locality in the Sierra Manantlán of Colima which had proved to be exceptionally productive for snakes which are now known as Crotalus campbelli. At that time, the Herp Mx Field Team was two years into a project to catalogue all reptiles and amphibians from the state of Colima, and was specifically looking at corners of the state which were unsampled or under sampled. The Sierra Manantlán provided several new state records for Colima, and was a favored locality for collecting. (Reyes-Velasco, et. al., 2008). The area was extremely wet already, and along with rattlesnakes many frogs and salamanders were collected. Under a small cap rock, Chris flipped a large Syrrhophus, which he recognized as an undescribed species, likely not related to anything else we had collected on the west coast. The frog appeared similar to Syrrhophus guttilatus and Syrrhophus longipes, and was suspected to represent a relict population of that group of Syrrhophus in western Mexico. That night, frogs were calling along the dirt road leading into the Sierra Manantlán, and a second specimen was collected at a lower elevation. Several years went by without more specimen being collected, and in July of 2008, shortly after re-discovering Crotalus lannomi in a nearby mountain range (Reyes-Velasco, et. al., 2010), Chris Grünwald decided to make a second collecting trip, this time at night, to collect a type series and define the elevational range of the new frog. An entire night was spent, collecting frogs of the genus Syrrhophus from 900 m to 2250 m. Dozens of the new species were seen, as were Syrrhophus modestus, Syrrhophus orarius and Syrrhophus nivicolimae. Elevation readings were taken with each specimen collected, and the elevation distribution of the group on the southeastern slopes of the Manantlán was mapped out. It became obvious that the population of S. modestus preferred plant matter at lower elevations for their calling perch, S. orarius were generalists, S. nivicolimae preferred the bark of standing oak trees, or nearby plant matter adjacent to oak trees, and that the new species was completely saxicolous, tied to limestone rock. Five specimen were preserved and the species was to be described by the next year. However, due to difficulty in the preservation process, the specimens were in the best condition possible, and the description was not completed. In 2011 and 2012, Herp Mx members Jacobo Reyes-Velasco and Alex Hermosillo, along with Gaby Zamora, re-visited the Sierra Manantlán and collected several more specimen. With these new specimen, preserved under better conditions, we were now armed to publish the new species. However, the more we investigated, the more questions arose. Preliminary genetic work proved that the species was definitively distinct from the sympatric or nearly sympatric species in the Manantlán, however, it suggested that two of these also were new species, hardly the same as nearby populations of the "presumed" same animals. Furthermore, the new species appeared to be related NOT to the eastern Syrrhophus guttilatus and Syrrhophus longipes, which it resembled, but rather it pertained to its very own group, related, albeit distantly to the western Syrrhophus which it did not resemble. Finally, in 2014, the description was completed by several members of the Herp Mx team, and in 2015 Syrrhophus grunwaldi (which current disputed taxonomy places as Eleutherodactylus grunwaldi) came to be. Not only is this a completely novel species, both to science and for Colima's ever growing list of herpetofauna, but it was also the spark which has set off a wider Syrrhophus project, which has already led to one other species, Syrrhophus wixarika, and to the discovery of at least five other new species which are currently in the process of description. Syrrhophus grunwaldi is now known to be a limestone specialist, which spends the entire dry season deep in limestone crevices, caves and sinkholes, where humidity and insects are abundant. During the onset of the rainy season, usually in late June or early July, the frogs leave their underground hiding places at night only, to breed. Males perch themselves high on rocks, cliffs and road cuts, or occasionally on tree trunks and standing trees near their limestone retreats. Males call all night, albeit most frequently from sun down to around 3 AM. The females leave their rocky retreats and follow the calls of the males. Breeding occurs on the spot and eggs are apparently deposited within the moist crevices of their limestone retreats. The larva are direct-developing, and pass through the tadpole stage within the egg. Once complete, the eggs hatch, and miniature versions of the adults (albeit darker) hop out and disperse throughout the limestone. The frogs appear to be endemic to the limestone cliffs of the southeastern portion of the Sierra Manantlán, from around 1400 m ASL to approx. 2250 m ASL, along the Jalisco and Colima border. They have been found in both states in this mountain range, and nowhere else.

Here's the article:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ldvz0ym2tphf ... 5.pdf?dl=0

Next up... some new snakes... or maybe the Golden Toad! ;)

Cheers,

Don Cascabel
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Kent VanSooy
Posts: 1100
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:51 am
Location: Oceanside

Re: New Frog Species from Colima and Jalisco

Post by Kent VanSooy »

SWEET! Great story, and congrats on one of the ultimate zoological honors! The work Herp Mx is doing is remarkable and inspiring. Thanks Chris!
Eimon
Posts: 70
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 11:44 am
Location: So Cal
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Re: New Frog Species from Colima and Jalisco

Post by Eimon »

Hey, you won't be seeing us for a while............we're going to spend a few months in Mexico and see how we like it :lol: :lol: :lol:

Damn bro, You guys are some seriously impressive human beings. Too bad I didn't have those in my back yard...hehe. Great work on everything you all have done. Amazing dedication and time put in, and you still managed to sprout your own little neos. Still miss you man, but proud as hell of ya.

Who says new school can't be old school. :thumb:
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Don Cascabel
Posts: 201
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:44 am
Location: Colima, México

Re: New Frog Species from Colima and Jalisco

Post by Don Cascabel »

That was a long time ago.... LOL. I miss you too man. Why don't you come down and visit one of these days... You'll hate the night driving down here (except Colima) but love the diversity not to mention shit snakes (lampros).

Good seeing you are still around these here parts Shawn!

Cheers,

Don Cascabel
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Don Cascabel
Posts: 201
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 10:44 am
Location: Colima, México

Re: New Frog Species from Colima and Jalisco

Post by Don Cascabel »

Thanks for the kind words Kent... much more to come out of the Herp Mx team. We are just gearing up to publish all the data we have gathered over the last 10 years. Lots of interesting stuff, and we want to now take a more pro-active role in Conservation and Taxonomy than what we have done in the past.

Cheers,

Don Cascabel
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