New Species of Hydrolaetare (Anura

Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 724–732, 2007
Copyright 2007 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
New Species of Hydrolaetare (Anura, Leptodactylidae) from Bolivia
with Some Notes on Its Natural History
MARTIN JANSEN,1,2 LUCINDO GONZALES ÁLVAREZ,3
1
AND
GUNTHER KÖHLER1
Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
3
Museo ‘‘Noel Kempff Mercado’’, Casilla de Correo 2489, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
ABSTRACT.—We describe a new species of Hydrolaetare from the eastern lowlands of Bolivia. The new
species differs from the other two congeners in (1) Finger II and III with lateral fringes only on the inner side;
(2) relative length of first finger; (3) palmar tubercle distinctly larger than thenar tubercle; (4) toes
semiwebbed; and (5) coloration. Moreover, the advertisement call of the new species differs from that of its
congeners. Some information about its natural history is given.
RESUMEN.—Se describe una nueva especie de rana perteneciente al género Hydrolaetare proveniente de las
tierras bajas del este de Bolivia. La nueva especie se diferencia de sus dos congéneres en (1) dedos II y III de
las manos con franjas laterales únicamente en su parte interna; (2) longitud relativa del primer dedo de la
mano; (3) tubérculo palmar distintivamente más grande que tubérculo tenar; (4) membrana parcial entre los
dedos de los pies; y (5) coloración. Más aún, las vocalizaciones de la nueva especie difiere de la de sus
congéneres. Se incluye cierta información de su historia natural.
Although many species of frogs have been
described recently, there are still genera poorly
known and not well represented in museum
collections. Gallardo (1963) described the genus
Hydrolaetare with Hydrolaetare schmidti (Cochran
and Goin) as its only member. A diagnostic
definition of the genus was provided by
Gallardo (1963), Cochran and Goin (1970), and
Lynch (1971). Heyer (1970) had placed Leptodactylus dantasi (Bokermann 1959) in the Leptodactylus melanonotus group. However, De Souza
and Haddad (2003) redescribed that species
from the first adult specimens, and transferred
it to Hydrolaetare and included a new diagnostic
character of the genus (i.e., serrated fringes of
fingers and fringes and webbing of toes, which
can be keratinized).
Information about and specimens of Hydrolaetare are rare, and we are aware of only about 40
specimens or literature records for H. schmidti
(e.g., Gallardo, 1963; De Souza and Haddad,
2003) and eight specimens of Hydrolaetare dantasi
(Bokermann, 1959; De Souza and Haddad, 2003).
Hydrolaetare schmidti has a ‘‘Spotty distribution
in the Amazon basin from the Madeira (Brazil)
to Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and French Guiana’’
(Frost, 2006). However, the 11 Brazilian specimens of H. schmidti examined by Gallardo
(1963) all lack precise locality data (i.e., two
specimens: ‘‘Mato Grosso,’’ eight specimens:
‘‘sem procedencia’’ [without locality], one spec2
Corresponding Author. E-mail: martin.jansen@
gmx.net
imen ‘‘sem procedencia, Amazonia’’). Hydrolaetare dantasi is only known from three localities in
the state of Acre, Brazil (De Souza and Haddad,
2003; see Fig. 1). The occurrence of H. schmidti
and H. dantasi (as L. dantasi) in Bolivia was
suspected by De la Riva et al. (2000) and Köhler
(2000). The first record of H. schmidti for Bolivia
was published by Padial and De la Riva (2005).
They stated, that ‘‘Célio F. B. Haddad (Rio
Claro, Brazil; in litt.) has observed another
specimen from Bolivia that differs from H.
schmidti and H. dantasi but due to bad preservation it could not be assigned with certainty to
a new species’’ (Padial and De la Riva, 2005:65).
Unfortunately, no locality data were provided
by the authors.
Little is known about the natural history of
these nocturnal, aquatic frogs (see Rodriguez
and Duellman, 1994; Lescure and Marty, 2000;
De Souza and Haddad, 2003). Hödl and
Gollmann (1986) described the distress call of
H. schmidti, and Lescure and Marty (2000)
provided parameters and graphs of its advertisement call. De Souza and Haddad (2003)
provided a description of the advertisement call
and distress call of H. dantasi. Photographs or
drawings of H. schmidti were provided by
Cochran and Groin (1959), Gallardo (1963),
Rodriguez and Duellman (1994), and Lescure
and Marty (2000); photographs or drawings of
H. dantasi were provided by Bokermann (1959)
and De Souza and Haddad (2003).
In November 2005, L. Gonzales and O.
Helmig (Museo Noel Kempff Mercado, Santa
Cruz, Bolivia) found one frog on Caparú Ranch,