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First record of the Colombian endemic plump toad Osornophryne percrassa Ruiz-Carranza and Hernández-Camacho, 1976 (Anura: Bufonidae)
from the Department of Risaralda, Central Mountain Range of Colombia Primer registro del sapo endémico colombiano Osornophryne percrassa Ruiz-Carranza y Hernández-Camacho, 1976 (Anura: Bufonidae) en el departamento de Risaralda, cordillera Central de Colombia Juan Camilo Mantilla-Castaño1,2, Sergio Escobar-Lasso1, Julián Andrés Rojas-Morales3,4, Juana Valentina González-Arenas1 1 Research
Group on Biology of Conservation and Biotechnology, Biology Program,
Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Santa Rosa de Cabal (UNISARC),
Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia. e-mail: camilophidio19@gmail.com biosergiobike@gmail.com juavana05@gmail.com
2 Organización Ambiental CHINAMPA, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. 3 Postgrado en Ecología Tropical, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela. e-mail: julian.herpetologia@gmail.com 4 Natural Seeds Alliance, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. Fecha recepción: Septiembre 6, 2017 Fecha aprobación: Noviembre 27, 2018 Editor Asociado: Neita-Moreno J. Abstract
The Colombian endemic plump toad Osornophryne percrassa Ruiz-Carranza and Hernández-Camacho, 1976, is registered for first time in the Department of Risaralda, Colombia, inside the protected area “Distrito de Conservación de Suelos Campoalegre”. This new record fills a geographical gap between the known localities reported in the departments of Caldas and Quindío. We suggest a conservation and management program for this and other threatened amphibian species in the Department. Keywords: Andean forests, Colombian Andes, Geographic distribution.
Resumen
El sapo endémico colombiano Osornophryne percrassa Ruiz-Carranza y Hernández-Camacho, 1976, es registrado por primera vez en el departamento de Risaralda, Colombia, al interior del Distrito de Conservación de Suelos Campoalegre. Este nuevo registro llena un vacío geográfico entre las localidades registradas en los departamentos de Caldas y Quindío. Se sugiere la implementación de un programa de conservación y manejo de esta y otras especies amenazadas en el departamento. Palabras clave: Andes colombianos, Bosques andinos, Distribución geográfica.
The Andean toad genus Osornophryne is an endangered lineage composed by 11 currently described species, confined to a small, but topographically complex biogeographic area (northern Andes of Colombia and Ecuador) (Páez-Moscoso and Guayasamin 2012). Five species occur in Colombia, which are: O. antisana Hoogmoed 1987, O. bufoniformis (Peracca 1904), O. guacamayo Hoogmoed 1987, O. percrassa Ruiz-Carranza and Hernández-Camacho 1976, and O. talipes Cannatella 1986 (Vanegas-Guerrero et al. 2016). Among these species, the Colombian endemic plump toad O. percrassa (Figure 1) is restricted to the Colombian Central Andes in the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Quindío, Tolima and Valle del Cauca (from north to south), at elevations between 2700 and 3840 m (Hoogmoed 1987, Vanegas-Guerrero et al. 2016). Osornophryne percrassa is a leaf-litter dwelling species, commonly found under rocks and debris in trails borders and roads, inside the Andean forests and “Páramos”; however, it has not been recorded in open disturbed habitats (Bernal and Quevedo 2004, Vanegas-Guerrero et al. 2016). Several aspects about its morphology, habitat use, behavior, and geographic distribution have been discussed in different works (Ruiz-Carranza and Hernández-Camacho 1976, Escobar-Lasso and González-Duran 2012, Burbano-Yandi et al. 2015, Vanegas-Guerrero et al. 2016). Osornophryne percrassa is listed as Endangered (EN) under criteria B1ab (iii) (IUCN 2015) and is listed as “Vulnerable” on the Colombian Red List of Amphibians, because the known geographical distribution is less than 5.000 km2 and its suitable habitat on the Colombian Central Mountain range is fragmented and declining, both in extent and quality (Bernal and Quevedo 2004). Also, O. percrassa is listed as an Endangered species by the Colombian Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADV 2017). A potential distribution model showed a larger area of suitable habitat than was previously assumed for O. percrassa, including areas around the National Natural Park Los Nevados (Vanegas-Guerrero et al. 2016). Here we provide new information about the distribution of the plump toad O. percrassa, based on first records of this species for the department of Risaralda. Also, we have gathered and updated all known localities throughout the distribution range of O. percrassa, which might be used to do spatial analysis and design conservation actions. Two specimens of O. percrassa were recorded in Andean forest at the sector of El Retén, road to Potosí, municipality of Santa Rosa de Cabal, department of Risaralda, Colombia (04°51’48” N; 75°30’39” W, WGS84, elevation 2856 m). This locality is located inside the protected area “Distrito de Conservación de Suelos (DCS) Campoalegre”. A juvenile individual (lacking testes, 19.6 mm snout-vent-length) was collected on 19 April 2013 at 17:30 h, on a concrete wall at the edge of a fragment forest, and an adult male (22.8 mm SVL) was observed on 5 august 2017 at 11:00 h, under a rotten trunk. Both specimens show the diagnostic characteristics of the species: truncated snout with non-projected papilla and light-yellow spots on the belly (Figure 1A) (Ruiz-Carranza and Hernández-Camacho 1976, Páez-Moscoso and Guayasamin 2012). The specimens were photographed, but only first individual was euthanized and deposited at the amphibian’s collection of the Universidad de Santa Rosa de Cabal (accession number CUS-A 0012); the second specimen (Figure 1B) was photographed and released in the same place where it was found. These are the first records of O. percrassa for the department of Risaralda, filling a geographical gap between the known localities reported in Caldas and Quindío departments (Figure 2, Table 1). The record of O. percrassa in Risaralda was highly predictable, taking into account the distribution model showed by Vanegas-Guerrero et al. (2016). Individuals of O. percrassa were found inside a protected area DCS Campoalegre, but it is important to highlight that this category is not strict and rigorous in terms of biodiversity conservation, since it allows different uses of lands, such as livestock and agricultural exploitation, as we observed between the years 2014 and 2017 (Figure 3). In this way, it corresponds to Corporación Autónoma Regional de Risaralda (CARDER), to take necessary measures to avoid the cattle breeding expansion and agricultural frontier, over the natural Andean forests where O. percrassa and other endemic and threatened amphibians have been found, such as Centrolene quindianum and Andinobates bombetes (Mantilla et al. 2015). Unfortunately, O. percrassa doesn’t have a national conservation plan throughout its distribution range. Therefore, it is really important to do it with a committed network between researchers, NGO’s, universities and local communities. To date, there are known 26 records of O. percrassa throughout its distribution range (Table 1). These records are distributed in five departments (Antioquia, Caldas, Quindío, Tolima and Valle del Cauca), and only in the department of Caldas has been established a conservation plan of the species in its territory (Burbano-Yandi et al. 2015). Therefore, is really urgent develop a conservation plan for this species in the territory of Risaralda. Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Corporación Autónoma Regional de Risaralda (CARDER) for the agreements executed with UNISARC and for the management of the collection permit (Resolución 2004 de 2016), allowing to make explorations to characterize fauna and flora in the Distrito de Conservación de Suelos Campoalegre. We thank two anonymous reviewers by their comments and suggestions on a previous draft of this paper. Literature cited
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