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Saturday, September 1st, 2018
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| 2:09p | [Herpetology • 2018] Eleutherodactylus geitonos • A New Frog of the Eleutherodactylus abbotti Species Group (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) from Hispaniola, with Bioacoustic and Taxonomic Comments on Other Species
ABSTRACT A new species of frog, Eleutherodactylus geitonos sp. nov., is described from the southeastern slope of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. The new frog is closely related to E. haitianus and both species share a small size. They differ in some morphological proportions and other external features, coloration, advertisement calls and DNA sequences of the 16S rRNA gene. Morphological and bioacoustic comparisons with other species in the E. abbotti species group are also provided. Our preliminary genetic data suggest that the taxonomic status of E. neodreptus (a synonym of E. audanti) and E. melatrigonum need to be re-evaluated. Keywords: Amphibia, taxonomy, West Indies, Dominican Republic, subgenus Eleutherodactylus, Terrarana.   Eleutherodactylus geitonos sp. nov. Diagnosis. A small species (maximum SVL in males 12.8 mm, in females 15.8 mm) of the Eleutherodactylus abbotti species group of the E. auriculatus species series (sensu Hedges et al., 2008; confirmed by Padial et al., 2014) as supported by morphological and genetic data (Figs. 1-3). It requires the closest comparison with E. haitianus but also with E. audanti and related species (E. melatrigonum, E. notidodes, and E. parabates; see Discussion). From those species, E. geitonos sp. nov. differs in lacking a pectoral fold and by having a small vocal sac that is not distinctively folded when deflated. Eleutherodactylus geitonos sp. nov. and E. haitianus are both very small frogs and the former, on average, has an even smaller size than the latter (see Table I). The new species has more distinctive digital discs than E. haitianus(third finger disc 3.1–4.0% of SVL, x̅=3.4%, vs. 1.8–2.9%, x̅=2.4%, in E. haitianus); a relatively longer snout (15–17% of SVL, vs. 12–15% in E. haitianus), and a pair of incomplete dorsolateral folds (vs. dorsolateral rows of tubercles in E. haitianus, with very prominent ones at the suprascapular level). Eleutherodactylus geitonos sp. nov. lacks the pattern of dark spots that E. haitianus typically has on belly and throat, and yellow coloration is more extended to ventral surfaces of males than in the latter species (Fig. 2). Advertisement calls of E. geitonos sp. nov.are long trains of notes like in E. haitianus (Fig. 6), but in the latter species’ call, the introductory note is long, somewhat frequency modulated, while a distinctive call introductory note is not present in E. geitonos sp. nov. From E. audanti and closely related taxa, the new species also differs in being much smaller (see Table I); in E. audanti toe V is longer than toe III, but in the new species these toes are of similar size or III>V. Eleutherodactylus parabates is also a larger species (up to 24 mm SVL; Schwartz and Henderson, 1991) with stocky body and advertisement calls consisting of long whistles.
Distribution. The new species is only known from the type locality (Fig. 7). However, frogs with similar call patterns and habitats have been recorded at Rancho Arriba (Sierra de Ocoa; San José de Ocoa Province), El Valle de Dios (Parque Nacional Loma La Humeadora; San Cristobal Province), and Los Guayuyos (near Parque Nacional Luis Quin; Peravia Province). Additional surveys will confirm the geographic distribution of the new species in those potential localities and nearby areas. Etymology. The specific epithet is from the ancient Greek γείτων, geitȏn, meaning a neighbor, in allusion to the proximity of the type locality to the city of Santo Domingo.
 Luis M. Díaz, Sixto J. Incháustegui, Cristian Marte, Gunther Köhler,Antonio Cádiz and Marcos Rodríguez. 2018. A New Frog of the Eleutherodactylus abbotti Species Group (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) from Hispaniola, with Bioacoustic and Taxonomic Comments on Other Species [Nueva rana del grupo de especies Eleutherodactylus abbotti (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) de la Hispaniola, con comentarios bioacústicos y taxonómicos de otras especies]. NOVITATES CARIBAEA. 12: 25-42. Resumen: Se describe una especie nueva de rana, Eleutherodactylus geitonos sp. nov., de la ladera sureste de la Cordillera Central, República Dominicana. Esta especie está cercanamente emparentada con E. haitianus, con la cual comparte una talla pequeña. Ambas especies se diferencian en algunas características y proporciones morfológicas, llamadas de anuncio, coloración y las secuencias del gen 16S ARNr. Son abordadas las comparaciones morfológicas y bioacústicas con otras especies del grupo E. abbotti. La filogenia obtenida a partir de datos genéticos preliminares sugieren que el estatus taxonómico de E. neodreptus (sinónimo de E. audanti) y E. melatrigonum requiere ser reevaluado. | ||||||
| 2:52p | [Mammalogy • 2018] Talpa martinorum • News from the Balkan refugium: Thrace has An Endemic Mole Species (Mammalia: Talpidae)
Abstract We utilized 1084 bp sequences of the cytochrome b gene to assess the taxonomic status of small blind moles from eastern Thrace in Bulgaria and European Turkey. So far, these moles were classified either as Talpa caeca or as T. levantis. Our study showed them to be genetically closer to T. europaea, T. aquitania, and T. occidentalis, albeit not being part of any of these species. We describe them as a new species, Talpa martinorum. n. sp. The new species differs from T. europaea, another mole occupying Thrace, by having a sealed palpebral fissure and a 1st upper molar with no parastyle, and by being smaller. The contemporary distribution range of T. martinorum n. sp. is small and restricted to the Black Sea coast between Burgas (Bulgaria) and Istanbul (Turkey). The species name is an eponym to the married couple Vladimir and Evgeniya Martino, two early students of Balkan mammals. Key words. Balkans, cytochrome b, cryptic species, species delimitation, Talpa martinorum n. sp. N 
Talpa martinorum n. sp. Diagnosis. A member of the subgenus Talpa. Medium-sized species with palpebral fissure sealed by a transparent skin (Fig. 3a). First upper molar (M1 ) lacks parastyle (Fig. 6a); the mesostyle is indistinctly bifurcate (Fig. 6a). Pairwise interspecific p-distances (> 9%) are within the range observed between other species of moles (e.g., within Talpa, interspecific distances average ca. 12%). Etymology. Talpa martinorum n. sp. is an eponym to Vladimir Emmanuilovich Martino (Владимир Эммануилович Мартино, 1888–1961) and Evgeniya Veniaminovna Martino (Евгения Вениаминовнa Мартино, 1894–1979) née Stepanova (Степановa), ethnic Russians who in 1920 escaped the October Revolution by emigrating to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia since 1929). In politically insecure and frequently violent Eastern Europe of the 20th century, the Martinos were refugees for more than three decades. In 1949 they moved to Bulgaria and in 1955 returned to Russia (at that time still Soviet Union). Inspired by G. S. Miller’s (1912) “Catalogue of the Mammals of Western Europe” they initiated mammal research in south-eastern Europe and named, among others, two Balkan endemics: Dinaromys bogdanovi (V. Martino & E. Martino, 1922) (Martino & Martino 1922: 413) and Talpa stankovici V. Martino & E. Martino, 1931 (Martino & Martino 1931: 53) (Fig. 8). While Vladimir had a degree in Biology from the University in Novorossiysk (1913), Evgeniya had no formal academic education. Despite this, she attained competency in mammalogy and successfully collaborated with her spouse, both in the field and cabinet. Although they published several joint papers (as V. and E. Martino), the contribution by Evgeniya is mainly ignored and she is nearly anonymous today (cf. Beolens et al. 2009). At least nine subspecific names for mammals with the epithet martinoi (see Appendix 3) were proposed by mammalogists between 1935 and 1971, and all are eponyms to Vladimir Martino. With the name martinorum n. sp. we stress the equal share by Evgeniya in the tandem “V. et E. Martino” and correct the injustice done to her contribution in the past decades. Along with Dorothea Bate (1878–1951) and Gabriele Neuhäuser (1911–1998) Evgeniya was one of the early women who studied the taxonomy of Palaearctic mammals already between the two great wars. In addition to their publications, a renowned legacy of Vladimir and Evgeniya Martino is their meticulously prepared and carefully labelled mammal collection, deposited primarily in the Natural History Museum London and the Zoological Institute and Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. For biographies of Vladimir Martino, see Mezentsev (1961), Paspalev (1962), Pusanov (1962), Zimmermann (1962), Gus’kov (1965), Taranenko (1999), and Boreiko (2001). Boris Kryštufek, Nedko Nedyalkov, Jonas J. Astrin and Rainer Hutterer. 2018. News from the Balkan refugium: Thrace has An Endemic Mole Species (Mammalia: Talpidae). Bonn zoological Bulletin. 67(1); 41–57. Нов вид бозайник открит в Странджа nauka.offnews.bg/news/Biologiia_31/Nov-v |
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