Pristimantis mutabilis

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Pristimantis mutabilis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Strabomantidae
Genus: Pristimantis
Species:
P. mutabilis
Binomial name
Pristimantis mutabilis
Guayasamin, Krynak, Krynak, Culebras, and Hutter, 2015 [2]

Pristimantis mutabilis, also known as the mutable rainfrog or "punk rock" rainfrog, is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found in the Ecuadoran Andes of Pichincha and Imbabura provinces. [1] [3] [4] Pristimantis mutabilis is the first known amphibian species that is able to change skin texture from tuberculate to almost smooth in a few minutes, an extreme example of phenotypic plasticity. The specific epithet mutabilis (changeable) refers to this ability. The physiological mechanism behind the skin texture change remains unknown. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy and discovery

Pristimantis mutabilis was formally described in 2015 in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society ; the holotype was collected in 2013. The species was placed in the genus Pristimantis on the basis of genetic studies supported by the morphological analysis. [2] The new species was first spotted in 2006, but only in 2009 the first specimen was collected and its unusual abilities were discovered. [5]

Also Pristimantis sobetes , a related species but from a different species group, have been found to display similar skin texture plasticity, suggesting that this trait may be more common in Pristimantis than in other amphibians. [2]

Description

Males measure about 17 mm (0.67 in) and females 21–23 mm (0.83–0.91 in) in snout–vent length. In life, males have light brown to pale greyish green dorsum, with bright green marks and grey to dark brown chevrons, outlined by thin cream or white line, with orange dorsolateral folds. The belly is pale grey to brown with darker, diffuse spots, and few small white spots. [2] Females have red flash coloration. [2]

Habitat and conservation

The species' habitat is arboreal and it is known from both primary and secondary Andean forests at elevations of 1,850–2,063 m (6,070–6,768 ft) above sea level. [2] [1]

Pristimantis mutabilis is only known from three sites in two separate reserves. Based on the vocalizations during the night, it is abundant, but it is difficult to see because of its arboreal habits. [2] However, the known subpopulations are separated by a dispersal barrier (the dry valley of the Guayllabamba River), and the general area is suffering from habitat destruction and fragmentation. Chytridiomycosis might also be a threat. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phenotypic plasticity</span> Trait change of an organism in response to environmental variation

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Nymphargus balionota is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Common names Mindo Cochran frog and mottled glassfrog has been coined for it.

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Nymphargus garciae is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae, formerly placed in Cochranella. It is endemic to the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central, Colombia. Its natural habitat is vegetation alongside streams in sub-Andean and Andean forests. It requires gallery forest for reproduction, and is therefore very sensitive to disturbance of this kind of habitat. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Nymphargus rosada</i> Species of frog

Nymphargus rosada is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae, formerly placed in Cochranella. It is endemic to Colombia where it is known from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central. Its natural habitats are sub-Andean forests alongside streams. It is threatened by habitat fragmentation and loss caused by agricultural expansion, timber extraction, and water pollution.

Nymphargus ruizi is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae, formerly placed in Cochranella. It is endemic to Colombia where it is known from the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental and the eastern slopes of the Farallones de Cali. Its natural habitats are sub-Andean forests next to streams. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by agricultural expansion, logging, human settlement, and water pollution.

Pristimantis balionotus is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is endemic to Ecuador and only known from its type locality on the border between the Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe Provinces, near the crest of the Ecuadorian Andes. Common name crest robber frog has been coined for it.

Pristimantis eremitus is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found in the Cordillera Occidental in north-western Ecuador from the Cotopaxi Province northward and on western slope of the Colombian Massif in the Nariño Department, extreme south-western Colombia. The specific name eremitus is Latin for "lonely" or "solitary" and refers to this species being the only western-Andean species among its closest relatives. Common names Chiriboga robber frog and lonely rainfrog have been coined for it.

Pristimantis esmeraldas is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found in north-eastern Ecuador in Esmeraldas and Manabí Provinces and in Valle del Cauca Department in Colombia.

<i>Pristimantis katoptroides</i> Species of frog

Pristimantis katoptroides is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found in the eastern slopes of the Andes of Ecuador and Cordillera Central and eastern Andean foothills in northwestern Peru. The specific name katoptroides is Greek for "mirror-like" and refers to the similarity of this species to Pristimantis crucifer, but being found on the other side of the Andes. Common name Puyo robber frog has been proposed for it.

Pristimantis ortizi is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. As currently known, it is endemic to northern Ecuador where it occurs on the Cordillera Oriental in the Carchi, Imbabura, and Napo Provinces, but it is likely to also occur in adjacent Colombia. The specific name ortizi honors Fernando Ortiz-Crespo, a prominent Ecuadorian ornithologist. Common names Ortiz robber frog and Ortiz's robber frog have been proposed for this species.

<i>Pristimantis scolodiscus</i> Species of frog

Pristimantis scolodiscus is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found on the Pacific slopes of the Andes in northern Ecuador and in the Colombian Massif in the Nariño Department in the adjacent south-western Colombia. Its elevational range is 1,200–1,780 m (3,940–5,840 ft) above sea level.

Pristimantis subsigillatus is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found in the lowlands in south-western Colombia and western Ecuador up to elevations of 1,162 m (3,812 ft) asl. It is sometimes known as Salidero robber frog or engraved rainfrog.

<i>Tachiramantis tayrona</i> Species of frog

Tachiramantis tayrona is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is endemic to the north-western Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The specific name tayrona refers to the pre-Columbian Tairona culture. Lynch and Ruíz-Carranza suggest that this species might have been a model for the gold frogs unearthed from archaeological sites in the area.

<i>Pristimantis w-nigrum</i> Species of frog

Pristimantis w-nigrum, also known as the Zurucuchu robber frog or w rainfrog, is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is found on both Pacific and Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru. The species is divided to at least eight clades that are genetically highly divergent but morphologically similar; it may be a species complex.

<i>Pristimantis ecuadorensis</i> Species of amphibian

Pristimantis ecuadorensis, also known as Ecuadorian rainfrog, is a species of rainfrog in the family Strabomantidae that is endemic to Ecuador. It is only known from three nearby localities on the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes in the Cotopaxi and Pichincha Provinces. Prior to its description as a new species in 2017, it was mixed with Pristimantis ornatissimus. As currently defined, Pristimantis ornatissimus occurs at elevations below 1,100 m (3,600 ft), whereas Pristimantis ecuadorensis is known from 1,450–1,480 m (4,760–4,860 ft) above sea level.

Juan Manuel Guayasamin is an Ecuadorian biologist. He earned his Ph.D. in 2007 from University of Kansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and as of 2017 he is working as professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. His research interests include the evolution of glass frogs (Centrolenidae) and direct-developing anurans. His main contributions have been: phylogenetic taxonomy of glassfrogs, description of the variation of skin texture in frogs, description of numerous species of amphibians and reptiles, and a monographic review of all Ecuadorian glassfrogs. A team led by Juan M. Guayasamin discovered Hyalinobatrachium yaku in May 2017, a glassfrog with transparent venter. To date (2020), he has described a total of 6 amphibian genera, 55 species of amphibians, and 11 reptiles, including two geckos from the Galápagos Islands.

Hyloscirtus mashpi, also known as Mashpi torrenteer and Mashpi stream treefrog, is a species of frogs in the family Hylidae. It is endemic to the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes and known from a few localities in Pichincha, Imbabura, and Esmeraldas Provinces. It is named after its type locality, Mashpi Reserve. Furthermore, the word mashpi is a Yumbo word meaning "friend of water", which agrees with the habitat requirements of this species.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2016). "Pristimantis mutabilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T74106939A74107619. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T74106939A74107619.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Guayasamin, Juan; Krynak, Tim; Krynak, Katherine; Culebras, Jaime & Hutter, Carl (2015). "Phenotypic plasticity raises questions for taxonomically important traits: a remarkable new Andean rainfrog (Pristimantis) with the ability to change skin texture". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 173 (4): 913–928. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12222 .
  3. Frost, Darrel R. (2022). "Pristimantis mutabilis Guayasamin, Krynak, Krynak, Culebras, and Hutter, 2015". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  4. Varela-Jaramillo, A. & Ron. S. R. (2018). Ron, S. R.; Merino-Viteri, A. & Ortiz, D. A. (eds.). "Pristimantis mutabilis Cutín Mutable / Mutable Rainfrog". Anfibios del Ecuador. Version 2019.0. Museo de Zoología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (QCAZ). Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  5. Becky Oskin (24 March 2015). "Shape-Shifting Frog Can Change Its Skin Texture". Live Science. Retrieved 27 March 2015.