Arquivos de periódicos de abril 2018

03 de abril de 2018

New Reed Frog from Mozambique

https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4379.2.2

Hyperolius stictus
Diagnosed by the lack of: spines on throat, heel spot, dorsolateral stripes, canthal stripe(extending to snout), light triangle on snout, translucent green belly, white gular disc.
It has small yellow spots on the sides of the back.

Male colouration in life.

Found in northern Mozambique.

Conradie, W., Verburgt, L., Portik, D.M., Ohler, A., Bwong, B.A. and Lawson, L.P. 2018. A new Reed Frog (Hyperoliidae: Hyperolius) from coastal northeastern Mozambique. Zootaxa. 4374 (2). 177-198.

(Thanks to Alex [@alexanderr] for writing this up)

Posted on 03 de abril de 2018, 02:37 AM by calebcam calebcam | 3 comentários | Deixar um comentário

13 de abril de 2018

New Mossy Frog from Madagascar

http://www.markscherz.com/wp-content/uploads/ZSE_article_21037.pdf
https://zse.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=21037

A new species of Gephyromantis has been discovered in the "mountainous area of Sorata", in northern Madagascar.

"The new species, which we dubbed Gephyromantis (Vatomantis) lomorina due to its mossy appearance (lomorina is a Malagasy word meaning ‘covered in moss’), is interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, it is not quite clear where it fits into the rest of the genus Gephyromantis. Genetically, it is somewhere in between the two subgenera Vatomantis (containing three species of smooth-skinned, green, riparian frogs with divided vocal sacs) and Laurentomantis (containing a handful of lumpy, brownish frogs with broad heads and single vocal sacs), sometimes coming out closer related to one of these than the other, but always it was found to be one of the more distant relatives of these two groups. The morphology and call fit this genetic weirdness as well; the call (which you can download and listen to here) is more similar to Laurentomantis species, but the morphology is a bit more like Vatomantis species, especially the green colour and the divided vocal sacs. So in the end we placed the new species in Vatomantis, but it hints that the relationships between these two subgenera are quite unclear, a point made in a previous study by Kaffenberger et al. (2012) based solely on genetic grounds."
A plate of the variation in Gephyromantis (Vatomantis) lomorina from Marojejy

Scherz, M.D., Hawlitschek, O., Razafindraibe, J.H., Megson, S., Ratsoavina, F.M., Rakotoarison, A., Bletz, M.C., Glaw, F. & Vences, M. (2018) A distinctive new frog species (Anura, Mantellidae) supports the biogeographic linkage of the montane rainforest massifs of northern Madagascar. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 94(2):247–261.

Posted on 13 de abril de 2018, 04:00 PM by calebcam calebcam | 1 comentário | Deixar um comentário

16 de abril de 2018

AfriHerps passes 20,000 Observations!

Posted on 16 de abril de 2018, 08:50 PM by calebcam calebcam | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

21 de abril de 2018

Three new species of Calumma chameleons discovered in Madagascar

https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx112/4965272?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Three new species of Calumma have been discovered in Madagascar; Calumma uetzi, Calumma lefona, and Calumma juliae, of which all are threatened and poorly known.


Calumma uetzi (shown above), is "one of the most beautiful of Madagascar’s chameleons. Displaying males go bright yellow along their sides with stripes of pink and purple, with a variety of colours on the head from teal to aquamarine, yellow, salmon, and purple, with a black stripe running through the eye. Meanwhile, the female can turn a dark brown, almost black, with bright yellow spots on her head that convey her vexation with his attentions."

As for Calumma lefona, "only one specimen of the new species C. lefona has ever been found, and it was necessary to describe the species without any other material. This species sets itself apart in two ways: firstly, it has an exceptionally long, spear-shaped flap of skin at the front end of its head, known as the ‘rostral appendage’. Having a nose like this is the feature that unites all members of the C. nasutum species group (though some species have apparently lost it again), but that of C. lefona is exceptionally large, and recognizable by its unique shape. It is somewhat reminiscent of the nose of the bizarre C. gallus (see right), but is much less pointed and probably not as brightly coloured."


Calumma juliae, shown above, was discovered "in a tiny, isolated forest fragment outside the town of Moramanga, east of Antananarivo".

Prötzel, D., Vences, M., Hawlitschek, O., Scherz, M.D., Ratsoavina, F.M. & Glaw, F. (2018) Endangered beauties: three new species of chameleons in the Calumma boettgeri complex (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, advanced access, 1–28.

Posted on 21 de abril de 2018, 10:29 PM by calebcam calebcam | 2 comentários | Deixar um comentário