INTRAGENERIC RELATIONSHIPS OF MAINLAND ELEUTHERODACTYLUS II. A REVIEW OF THE ELEUTHERODACTYLUS SULCATUS GROUP

Abstract

Nine species are recognized in the Eleutherodactylus sulcatus group, including one species described as new. Frogs of this species group are distributed in cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador as well as at lower elevations in the western Amazon basin (Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) and along the frontier between Colombia and Panama. A cladistic analysis (based on cranial morphology) results in a nearly fully resolved cladogram. The cloud forest species form a clade within the species group. Ali pairs of sister species are allopatric but some biogeographic paralogy suggests that initial andean diversification of this clade antedates the present Andean geography.