New Species of Pristimantis (Anura: Strabomantidae) from
the Amazonian Lowlands of Southern Peru
EDGAR LEHR1,2 AND RUDOLF vON MAY3
1Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden, Museum fu¨r Tierkunde, Ko¨nigsbru¨cker Landstrasse 159, D-01109
Dresden, Germany; E-mail: elehr@ku.edu
3Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 11200 Southwest 8th Street, OE-167,
Miami, Florida 33199 USA; E-mail: rvonmay@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT.—We describe a new species of Pristimantis from the Amazonian lowlands in southern Peru
(Madre de Dios Region). The new species has a snout–vent length of 22.8–23.4 mm in two adult males
(females are unknown), a tympanum barely visible, a W-shaped scapular ridge, the iris bearing a dark
vertical bar forming a cross or a T, a cream venter with brown blotches, and groin and concealed surfaces of
shanks with a contrasting pattern consisting of yellow and black. It is tentatively assigned to the unistrigatus
species Group and is most similar to Pristimantis diadematus and Pristimantis eurydactylus.
RESUMEN.—Describimos una nueva especie de Pristimantis de la llanura amazo´nica del sur de Peru´ (Regio´n
de Madre de Dios). La nueva especie tiene una longitud hocico-cloaca de 22.8–23.4 mm en dos machos
adultos (no se encontraron hembras), el tı´mpano es poco visible, la regio´n escapular tiene un borde en forma
de W, el iris tiene una barra vertical oscura en forma de cruz o T, el vientre es de color crema con manchas
marrones, la ingle y las superficies ocultas de las piernas poseen un patro´n de coloracio´n amarillo y negro
contrastante. La nueva especie es tentativamente asignada al Grupo de especies unistrigatus y es ma´s
parecida a Pristimantis diadematus y Pristimantis eurydactylus.
Discoveries of new species of Pristimantis
from the Amazonian lowlands are relatively
rare and occur when remote areas or difficult
microhabitats such as the high canopy are
explored (e.g., Lehr et al., 2007) or when cryptic
species are detected based on genetic data
within widespread species (e.g., Elmer and
Cannatella, 2008) or when specific areas over a
long time are surveyed (this paper). Only nine
species of Pristimantis have been described from
the Amazonian lowlands within the last decade:
Pristimantis aureolineatus (Guayasamin, Ron,
Cisneros-Heredia, Lamar, and McCracken,
2006); Pristimantis buccinator (Rodrı´guez, 1994);
Pristimantis delius (Duellman and Mendelson,
1995); Pristimantis luscombei (Duellman and
Mendelson, 1995); Pristimantis metabates (Duell-
man and Pramuk, 1999); Pristimantis olivaceus
(Ko¨hler, Morales, Lo¨tters, Reichle, and Aparicio,
1998); Pristimantis orcus Lehr, Catenazzi, and
Rodriguez, 2009; Pristimantis skydmainos (Flores
and Rodrı´guez, 1997); and Pristimantis tantanti
(Lehr, Torres, and Sua´rez, 2007). Long-term
field work in southern Peru (Madre de Dios)
at the Los Amigos Conservation Concession (5
CICRA: Centro de Investigacio´n y Capacitacio´n
Rı´o Los Amigos) conducted by the junior author
between 2001 and 2008 led to the discovery of a
series of Pristimantis. These individuals have a
distinct coloration pattern of alternating yellow
and black blotches on the groin and on
concealed surfaces of the shanks and a cream
venter with dark brown blotches. Herein, we
describe the new species, which we tentatively
assign to the unistrigatus species Group.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Institutional abbreviations follow Leviton et
al. (1985) with the addition of MUSM for Museo
de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional
Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru, and MTD
for Museum fu¨r Naturkunde Dresden, Dresden,
Germany. Taxonomy follows Hedges et al.
(2008) and the format for the description follows
that of Lynch and Duellman (1997), except that
the term dentigerous processes of vomers is
used instead of vomerine odontophores (Duell-
man et al., 2006). Conditions of the tympanum
follow Lynch and Duellman (1997). Specimens
were preserved in 10% formalin and stored in
70% ethanol. Adult and subadult specimens
were dissected to determine the sex and
maturity, and the otic region of the holotype
was dissected to determine the condition of the
tympanic annulus. The following measure-
ments were taken with digital calipers under a
microscope and rounded to the nearest 0.1 mm:
snout–vent length (SVL); tibia length (TL); foot2 Corresponding Author.
Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 485–494, 2009
Copyright 2009 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

length (FL, distance from proximal margin of
inner metatarsal tubercle to tip of Toe IV); head
length (HL, from angle of jaw to tip of snout);
head width (HW, at level of angle of jaw); eye
diameter (ED); tympanum diameter (TY); inter-
orbital distance (IOD); upper eyelid width (EW);
internarial distance (IND); eye–nostril distance
(E–N, straight line distance between anterior
corner of orbit and posterior margin of external
nares). Comparative lengths of Toes III and V
were determined by pressing both toes against
Toe IV; relative lengths of Fingers I and II were
determined by pressing the fingers against each
other. Drawings were made by the senior
author using a stereomicroscope with a drawing
tube attachment. Comparative material is listed
in the appendix.
RESULTS
Systematics
Pristimantis divnae new species
Pristimantis sp., von May, R., J. M. Jacobs, R.
D. Jennings, A. Catenazzi, and L. O. Rodrı´guez,
2007. Anfibios de Los Amigos, Manu y Tambo-
pata, Peru´. Rapid Color Guide 236, 12 pl. The
Field Museum, Chicago (Web version: http://
fm2.fieldmuseum.org/plantguides/guideimages.
asp?ID5350)
Figures 1–3
Holotype.—MUSM 19990 (Figs. 1, 2), an adult
male, from Los Amigos Conservation Conces-
sion, CICRA Station (12u349070S, 70u059570W) at
270 m, Manu Province, Madre de Dios Region,
Peru, collected by R. von May on 3 August 2006.
Paratypes.—Five: One adult male (MUSM
27288), two subadult males (MUSM 27281,
27283), two juveniles (MUSM 27276, 27277), all
from Madre de Dios Region, Peru. MUSM 27288
from Tambopata (.5 km southeast from CI-
CRA) at 300 m, Tambopata Province, collected
by R. von May on 25 March 2008; MUSM 27281
from Los Amigos Conservation Concession,
CM1 Station (12u349170S, 70u049290W) at approx-
imately 250 m, Manu Province, collected by R.
Santa Cruz on 26 February 2008; MUSM 27283
from Tambopata (.5 km southeast from CI-
CRA) at 300 m, Tambopata Province, collected
by J. Jacobs on 19 March 2008; MUSM 27276
from Los Amigos Conservation Concession,
CM2 Station (12u269570S, 70u159060W) at 260 m,
Manu Province, collected from terra firme
across Los amigos river by R. von May on 5
February 2008; MUSM 27277 from Los Amigos
Conservation Concession, CICRA Station,
270 m, Manu Province, collected by R. von
May on 20 February 2008.
Diagnosis.—A member of the P. unistrigatus
Group having the following combination of
characters: (1) skin on dorsum shagreen with
scattered minute tubercles; dorsolateral fold
absent; skin on venter areolate; discoidal fold
present; (2) tympanic annulus barely visible,
tympanic membrane absent; (3) snout subacu-
minate in dorsal view, rounded in lateral view;
(4) upper eyelid with minute tubercles, upper
eyelid width much narrower than IOD, cranial
crests absent; (5) dentigerous processes of
vomers oblique, low; (6) males lacking vocal
sac, vocal slits, and nuptial pads; (7) Finger I
shorter than Finger II, discs on outer fingers
broad, rounded; (8) fingers with narrow lateral
fringes; (9) ulnar tubercles absent, outer surfaces
of tarsus with a row of minute tubercles; (10)
heel with minute tubercle, short, inner tarsal
fold present; (11) inner metatarsal tubercle
ovoid, six times the size of ovoid outer
metatarsal tubercle, few supernumerary plantar
tubercles present; (12) toes with narrow lateral
fringes; basal toe webbing present, Toe V much
longer than Toe III, toe discs broad, rounded,
slightly smaller than discs on fingers; (13) in
ethanol, dorsum brown with dark brown W-
shaped mark on scapula and a dark brown
chevron, chest and belly cream with dark brown
blotches, throat cream with few dark brown
blotches and many minute dark brown spots;
(14) SVL in adult males 22.8–23.4 mm (N 5 2),
females unknown.
Pristimantis divnae and five other species from
the Amazonian lowlands and lower eastern
Andes in Peru (carvalhoi, diadematus, eurydacty-
lus, flavobracatus, ventrimarmoratus) have dentig-
erous processes of vomers, discs on fingers and
toes broadly extended, dorsolateral folds ab-
sent, males without vocal slits, a pale venter
with darker blotches, and the groin with a
contrasting pattern consisting of yellow or
white and dark brown (Table 1). Pristimantis
divnae shares with P. carvalhoi a barely distin-
guishable tympanic annulus, a yellow groin,
and the absence of vocal slits and nuptial pads,
but males of P. carvalhoi are much smaller
(maximum SVL 14.8 mm vs. 23.4 mm in P.
divnae) and lack discoidal fold, lateral fringes,
and a tarsal fold, all of which are present in P.
divnae. Pristimantis divnae and Pristimantis flavo-
bracatus have the iris usually with a T-shaped
mark, but P. flavobracatus lacks a tympanic
annulus, a W-shaped mark on scapula, a
discoidal fold, lateral fringes, and a tarsal fold,
and males are smaller (SVL 19.6 mm vs.
23.4 mm in P. divnae). Pristimantis ventrimarmor-
atus and P. divnae are approximately the same
size, have a discoidal fold, and have fingers and
toes with lateral fringes. Unlike P. divnae, P.
ventrimarmoratus lacks a tympanic annulus,
486 E. LEHR AND R. VON MAY