Gastrotheca yacambuensis Yústiz, 1976

Barrio-Amorós, César L., Rojas-Runjaic, Fernando J. M. & Señaris, J. Celsa, 2019, Catalogue of the amphibians of Venezuela: Illustrated and annotated species list, distribution, and conservation, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 180) 13 (1), pp. 1-198 : 57

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).