Marcel A. Caminer; Santiago R. Ron

“ Taxonomic status ofHypsiboas fasciatusandHypsiboas calcaratus
The holotype of Hypsiboas fasciatus is an adult female (SVL = 58.59 mm; BM 1858.7.25.22, reported as “BM 58.4.25.22” by [10] ; Fig. 3) collected by Louis Fraser. It closely resembles individuals from clade A and B (Fig. 4A–B) , which also have a small calcar and black bars on the flanks and thighs (Figs 5 and 6) . We assign the binomial Hypsiboas fasciatus to clade A based on morphometric data showing a closer affinity to the holotype (Fig. 7A) . Clade B (Hypsiboas almendarizae sp. n.) ”

“ Vegetation type for the Ecuadorian localities is Amazonian Lowland Evergreen Forest characterized by high plant alpha-diversity and a canopy of 30 m with emergent trees that reach 40 m.
Vegetation type at the Peruvian locality is Napo Moist Forest.
Conservation status.
The distribution polygon has 2,950 km2 of which 106 (3.5%) have been degraded by human activities (estimated from [42] ) . Because its known distribution range is small with less than five localities and habitat degradation is increasing, Hypsiboas tetete is assigned to the Endangered category under criteria B1ab (iii) . ”

“ The only strongly supported disagreement between the nuclear and the mitochondrial phylogeny is the placement of individual QCAZ 44177 because in the nuclear tree it appears within a clade formed by individuals from the mitochondrial clades A and B, while in the mitochondrial tree it appears as a member of clade C. The morphological data shows that QCAZ 44177 is a member of clade C because it has its distinctive characters (e.g., large and triangular calcar) . ”

“ The branch lengths that separate clade K from clade D are longer than the lengths that separate pairs of some confirmed candidate species (e.g., Hypsiboas fasciatus vs. Hypsiboas almendarizae sp. n.) further implying that K is a valid undescribed species.
Table 5. "Pairwise genetic distances (uncorrected p) of 16S DNA sequences among members of the Hypsiboas calcaratus species complex. Mean ± SD is given with range in parentheses (below diagonal) . Number of individuals compared is shown above diagonal. Diagonal shows intra-clade genetic distances." ”

“ Hypsiboas tetete (Figs 8F and 19) is characterized by: (1) mean SVL 31.72 mm in males (range 31.15–32.24; n = 5) , 45.59 mm in females (range 45.33–45.85; n = 2) ; (2) basal webbing on the fingers; (3) tubercle on the heel; (4) dorsal background coloration varying from grayish brown to pale brown, sometimes with dark markings (e.g., diffuse broad transversal bands) ; (5) faint brown middorsal line often present; (6) flanks creamy white or gray (in life, light blue in large females and white in males) with dark brown irregular spots ”

“ The highest loadings for PC I were tibia length, femur length, and foot length; for PC II it was tympanum diameter (Table 8) . The morphometric space shows high overlap among species (Fig. 7B) . The first PC shows a partial segregation between Hypsiboas maculateralis (shorts limbs) and Hypsiboas calcaratus (long limbs) . Comparisons of PC I between males of the six species show significant differences between Hypsiboas fasciatus and Hypsiboas almendarizae relative to Hypsiboas calcaratus and Hypsiboas alfaroi (all P values for t tests < 0.02) ”

“ The analyzed calls from Hypsiboas fasciatus were from a region of allopatry. Future studies should aim to compare calls from the region of sympatry to explore the possibility of reproductive character displacement.
Distribution and ecology.
Hypsiboas almendarizae occurs on the eastern Andean slopes of central and southern Ecuador (Morona Santiago, Napo, and Tungurahua provinces) (Fig. 15) . Localities with known elevation range from 500 to 1950 m above sea level. The elevation at Río Hollín (1950 m) is the highest known locality for Hypsiboas almendarizae, while Méndez (500 m) is the lowest. ”

“ The new species differ from H. calcaratus and H. fasciatus in morphology, advertisement calls, and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Five candidate species from the Guianan region, Peru, and Bolivia are left as unconfirmed. Examination of the type material of Hyla steinbachi, from Bolivia, shows that it is not conspecific with H. fasciatus and thus is removed from its synonymy.
Introduction
Management and conservation planning of biodiversity requires proper species identifications and comprehensive inventories. ”

“ Adult male, 32.06 mm SVL, foot length 13.22 mm, head length 8.77 mm, head width 10.02 mm, eye diameter 3.69 mm, tympanum diameter 2.19 mm, tibia length 18.74 mm, femur length 16.24 mm, arm length 5.71 mm, eye-nostril distance 2.59 mm, head wider than long and wider than body; snout rounded in lateral view, truncate in dorsal view ”

“ The assignment of Hypsiboas fasciatus to clade A is also supported by geographic distribution. Although in the species description by [35] the type locality is vaguely stated as “Anden von Ecuador”, it is almost certain that the holotype was collected either in Gualaquiza or Zamora, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe provinces, Ecuador. ”

“ Overall, there is wide overlap in morphometric space among species. However, there is segregation between Hypsiboas almendarizae and Hypsiboas calcaratus along PC I and Hypsiboas almendarizae and Hypsiboas maculateralis along PC II (Fig. 7A) . ”

“ Because it is likely that each of our sampled genes (or codon positions in protein coding genes) evolved under different processes, we partitioned the matrices according to gene and codon position to analyze each partition under separate models of evolution. ”

“ Large conical calcar on tibiotarsal articulation; ill defined, scattered tubercles on tarsus and along ventrolateral edge of foot; toes bearing discs slightly wider than long, smaller than those of fingers; relative length of toes Iwebbing formula of toes I2—23⁄4II13⁄4—3-III2-—3+IV3+—2-V. Skin on dorsum, head, and dorsal surfaces of limbs smooth ”