Gastrotheca yacambuensis Yústiz, 1976 *

Holotype: MBUCO 6015.

Type locality: “ Quebrada El Cedral, Parque Nacional Yacambú, ladera Sur de Sierra Portuguesa, Estado Lara, Venezuela, 1,700 m.”

Distribution: Region 1. Parque Nacional Yacambú, Lara State, and probably all Cordillera de Mérida in the Venezuelan Andes.

Remarks: Duellman (1989b) synonymized Gastrotheca yacambuensis with G. nicefori without providing any argument. Barrio-Amorós (1998, 2004, 2013) and Barrio-Amorós et al. (2009) did not follow the synonymy, waiting for additional evidence. Duellman (2015) compared overall external similarities among names he synonymized (Duellman 1989b) to support his previous statement. Castroviejo et al. (2015) showed that topotypical specimens of G. nicefori are significantly different genetically from specimens from the Venezuelan Andes; so, G. yacambuensis could be the name for populations previously referred to G. nicefori in the Venezuelan Andes. The current authors consider G. yacambuensis as a valid species, at least for central Andean populations, while awaiting a comprehensive review of the Andean populations of Gastrotheca nicefori .

Selected references: Yústiz (1976a,b, 1996); Duellman (1989b); Castroviejo et al. (2015).