Una nueva especie de rana arborícola (Amphibia: Hylidae: Hyla) de un bosque nublado del oeste de Venezuela

Abstract

It is described a new species of treefrog of the genus Hyla, H. amicorum, from the Cerro Socopo, state of Falcón, western Venezuela. This new taxon can be differentiated from the congeners reported from Venezuela by the combination of characteristics as follow: small size (22.6 mm, in male), vestigial webbing between toes II and III, belly strongly areolated, skin dorsally smooth, vent covered totally by a skin fold, no pattern on dorsum, dentigerous processes of the vomer arranged forming a wide "U", located slightly behind and between the choanae. Intrageneric relationships of this new species are obscure, but a close relationships with those groups of H. minuta or H. microcephala groups would not be discarded, nevertheless as long as show unique combination of morphological characteristics, suggesting probably a different phylogenetic origin. Key words: Hyla amicorum, Amphibia, Hylidae, Estado Falcón, Venezuela.