identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
B0061B8E72A95208849D496C52D445B9.text	B0061B8E72A95208849D496C52D445B9.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Pristimantis milpe Ron & Paredes-Aguirre & Paucar & López & Apunte & Ortega 2026	<div><p>Pristimantis milpe sp. nov.</p><p>Figs 5, 6, 7, 11, 12</p><p>Eleutherodactylus subsigillatus Lynch, 1980 b in part; Lynch and Duellman (1997) in part.</p><p>Pristimantis subsigillatus: Arteaga et al. (2013); Arteaga et al. (2016); Chavez and Catenazzi (2016); Rivera-Correa and Daza (2016); Stanescu et al. (2017); Carrión-Olmedo and Ron (2021); Moretta-Urdiales et al. (2025); Fuchs (2025).</p><p>Type material.</p><p>Holotype: • QCAZ -A 77106 (field series SC-PUCE 64534), adult male collected in Ecuador, Pichincha Province, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-78.8673&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=0.031318" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -78.8673/lat 0.031318)">Milpe Bird Sanctuary</a>, on the trails of the Reserve (0.031318°N, 78.8673°W), 1150 m, collected by Santiago Ron, María José Navarrete, Julio Carrión, Vincent Premel, and Daniel Zumel on February 12, 2020 . Paratypes (n = 21): • Ecuador. Bolívar Province: <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-79.25843&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-1.66577" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -79.25843/lat -1.66577)">Tablas La Florida</a>: QCAZ -A 51314, adult female (1.66577°S, 79.25843°W) 361 m, collected by Diana Troya, Francy Mora, Estefanía Boada, Jorge Valencia, and Fernando Ayala on June 09, 2011 . • Las Naves Canton, 2 km NE <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-79.2457&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-1.3091" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -79.2457/lat -1.3091)">Recinto Naves Chico</a>: QCAZ -A 79899, adult male (1.3091°S, 79.2457°W), 992 m, collected by Edwin Carrillo on October 5, 2024 . • Esmeraldas Province: Eloy Alfaro Canton, Santo Domingo de Onzole Parish, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-79.1442&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=0.53775" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -79.1442/lat 0.53775)">Tesoro Escondido Reserve</a>: QCAZ -A 65561, adult male (0.53529°N, 79.14291°W) 294 m , QCAZ -A 65562, adult male, (0.53775°N, 79.14420°W) 309 m, collected by Diego Almeida, Kunam Nusirquia, Diego Paucar, Estefany Guerra, and Diego Quirola on October 19, 2016 . • Quinindé Canton, Rosa Zárate Parish, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-79.71598&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-0.34361" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -79.71598/lat -0.34361)">Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve, Bilsa Biological Station</a>: QCAZ -A 74171, adult female (0.34886°N, 79.71386°W) 506 m , and QCAZ -A 74172, adult female (0.34361°S, 79.71598°W) 526 m, collected by Diego Almeida, Darwin Núñez, Gabriela Pazmiño, Andrea Echeverry, and Kelly Granda on August 9, 2018 . • Manabí Province: Jama Canton, Jama Parish, Camarones, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-80.11534&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-0.119429" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -80.11534/lat -0.119429)">Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve</a>: QCAZ -A 67340, adult female (0.12236°S, 80.11539°W) 646 m, QCAZ -A 67341 , adult female, (0.109009°S, 80.10940°W) 640 m, QCAZ -A 67342, subadult female (0.119429°S, 80.11534°W) 661 m, collected by Diego Almeida, Kunam Nusirquia, Darwin Núñez, Fernando Ayala, Malki Bustos, Camila Silva, Valeria Chasiluisa, and Katherin Hinojosa from March 25 to March 28, 2017 . • Pichincha Province: La Unión del Toachi, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-78.949&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-0.3258" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -78.949/lat -0.3258)">trail to the Botanical Garden</a>: QCAZ -A 49370, adult male (0.3258°S, 78.9490°W) 850 m, collected by Néstor Acosta, Jorge Navarro, John Recalde, Juan Carlos Beción, Scran Najera, Cristina Naranjo, Joaquín Alarcón, Fausto Ocaña, and Marco Vallejo on September 4, 2010 . • San Miguel de los Bancos Canton, San Miguel de los Bancos Parish, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-78.9896&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-0.093" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -78.9896/lat -0.093)">Ganaderos Orenses</a>: QCAZ -A 67424, adult female, (0.0928°S, 78.9909°W) 726 m , and QCAZ -A 67428, adult male (0.0930°S, 78.9896°W) 707 m, collected by Diego Almeida, Kunam Nusirquia, Darwin Núñez, Fernando Ayala, Malki Bustos, Camila Silva, Valeria Chasiluisa, Katherin Hinojosa, and María del Mar Moretta on March 16, 2017 . • San Miguel de los Bancos Canton, Mindo Parish, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-78.8683&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=0.0322" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -78.8683/lat 0.0322)">Milpe Bird Sanctuary</a>: QCAZ -A 76518 and QCAZ -A 76519, adult males (0.0322°N, 78.8683°W) 1137 m, collected by Santiago Ron on February 14, 2019 ; • QCAZ -A 76585, adult male (0.03168°N, 78.8670°W) 1137 m, collected by Santiago Ron, Yerka Sagredo, Karem López, Adriana Manzano, and Pablo Aceñolaza on December 10, 2018; • QCAZ -A 76819 –76820, adult males (0.0319°N, 78.8682°W) 1140 m, collected by Fernando Ayala and Estefany Guerra on November 8, 2018 . • QCAZ -A 77104 –77105, 77107 adult males, (0.0350°N, 78.8671°W) 1078 m, collected by Santiago Ron, María José Navarrete, Julio Carrión, Vincent Premel, and Daniel Zumel on February 12, 2020 . • Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas province: San José de Alluriquín Canton, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-79.0523&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-0.2987" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -79.0523/lat -0.2987)">Tinalandia Hotel trails</a>: QCAZ -A 45268, adult female (0.2987°S, 79.0523°W) 722 m, collected by Steven Poe and Fernando Ayala on August 13, 2009 ; • <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-79.052&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=-0.3032" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -79.052/lat -0.3032)">Tinalandia Hotel</a>: QCAZ -A 50012, adult male (0.3032°S, 79.0520°W) 752 m, collected by Alejandro Arteaga-Navarro on January 2, 2011 .</p><p>Common name.</p><p>English: Milpe Rain Frog. Spanish: Cutín de Milpe.</p><p>Diagnosis.</p><p>We assign the new species to the genus Pristimantis based on the phylogeny (Fig. 5). Species of Pristimantis characterized by: (1) smooth to slightly tuberculate dorsal skin, areolate belly; discoidal fold evident; dorsolateral folds absent; (2) tympanum condition B; tympanic ring covered dorsally by supratympanic fold, tympanic membrane not differentiated; (3) truncate snout in dorsal view and protruding in lateral view; (4) upper eyelid generally without tubercles (occasionally one tiny tubercle present); (5) cranial crests absent; (6) oblique dentigerous processes of vomers; (7) vocal slits present, nuptial pads absent; (8) finger I shorter than finger II; expanded, truncated discs; (9) fingers lacking lateral fringes; (10) ulnar tubercles absent; (11) heel tubercle absent, outer edge of tarsus lacking tubercles; (12) ovoid inner metatarsal tubercle, small outer metatarsal tubercle, supernumerary plantar tubercles present; (13) toes lacking lateral fringes, interdigital membrane absent, toe V longer than toe III; (14) in preservative, dorsum varying from light to dark brown, often with irregular dark marks; belly white to cream, anterior surfaces of thighs cream; females have a distinctive pattern in the groin, cream or brown color with black spots; (15) SVL in adult females 32.1–36.1 mm (n = 9), SVL in adult males 24.2–27.0 mm (n = 12; Table 2).</p><p>Differential diagnosis.</p><p>In this section, we describe characters for live individuals, unless otherwise noticed. The character states for the new species are described in parenthesis. Among species of the P. lacrimosus species group from the Choco region, the most similar is P. eremitus which differs by having a predominantly green dorsal coloration (yellow tan, tan olive, to dark brown; Figs 6, 7), more tuberculate dorsal skin, and larger tympanum (Fig. 10). Female P. eremitus differ from P. milpe by having unpatterned groins (groins orange [edab 26] with black spots). Advertisement call differs markedly: P. eremitus emits a series of 3–9 notes with an average dominant frequency of 4916 Hz (single note, average dominant frequency 2581 Hz in the new species). Pristimantis eremitus call data obtained from Hutter et al. 2016.</p><p>The sister species of the new species, Pristimantis degener Lynch &amp; Duellman, 1997, differs by having a cream to red iris without contrasting marks (bronze iris [c 49969] to dark brown [663333] with a midhorizontal dark brown band [7 f 4231], with thin black reticulations). The new species is also closely related to P. mindo, which differs by having a truncate snout in lateral view (protruding). Pristimantis nyctophylax differs from P. milpe by having an iris with thick black reticulations and red [e 45 b 2 d] to orange [ecbd 01] sclera (iris of the new species as described above with light blue [e 2 e 9 e 2] sclera).</p><p>Description of the holotype.</p><p>Adult male (QCAZ -A 77106); measurements are shown in Table 2. Head as wide as the body, truncate snout in dorsal view and protruding in lateral view; cranial crests absent, tympanic condition B, tympanic annulus covered dorsally by supratympanic fold, tympanic membrane not differentiated. Vocal slits present, near the corner of the mouth, running parallel to the jaw along ~ 1 / 3 of its length. Vocal sac folds evident in the gular region; dentigerous processes of vomers present, oblique; nuptial pads absent.</p><p>Dorsal skin smooth, dorsolateral folds absent, flank skin without tubercles; throat, chest, and ventral skin areolate; discoidal fold present. Hindlimbs smooth dorsally, thighs finely areolate ventrally.</p><p>Low palmar tubercles; well-defined subarticular tubercles, round in ventral and lateral views; all fingers with elongated and slender hyperdistal tubercles; supernumerary tubercles at the base of the fingers; absent lateral fringes. Finger I shorter than Finger II, discs expanded and truncated. Elliptical inner metatarsal tubercle much larger than outer metatarsal tubercle; plantar surface with well-defined supernumerary tubercles, all toes with well-defined hyperdistal tubercles, toes lack lateral fringes; interdigital membranes absent, discs on toes expanded and truncate, toe V much longer than toe III (Toe V reaches the distal subarticular tubercle of toe IV).</p><p>In life (Fig. 6 A), dorsal coloration is brownish orange [d 1990 e]; ventral coloration is cream [fdfde 5] posterior to the armpits and yellow [fbdd 5 d] anteriorly. The head has a brown [9 c 5824] cantal stripe; the iris is bronze [edaf 30] with a midhorizontal dark brown [581 a 04] band. In preservative (Fig. 12 A), dorsal coloration is brown [ab 8 f 77]; ventral coloration is light brown [b 3 aa 9 b]; the cantal stripe in the head is dark brown [3 b 2 c 26].</p><p>Variation.</p><p>Males are smaller than females (adult males average SVL = 25.8 mm, SD = 0.91, range 24.2–27.0 mm, n = 12; adult females SVL = 33.9 mm, SD = 1.2, range 32.1–36.1 mm, n = 9). Size variation is summarized in Table 2. Details of color variation in life and preservative are shown in Figs 6, 7, 11, 12. There is sexual dimorphism in coloration in life. In females, the groins and hidden surfaces of the thighs are cream, light blue, to orange with black contrasting marks; in males, the groins are unpatterned and have the same coloration as the flanks and ventral areas of the thighs, except for QCAZ -A 29791 which has some dark markings in the groins and anterior surface of the thighs (Fig. 12 C), although they are sparser than the markings found in females. Phenotypic plasticity in coloration can be significant; specimen QCAZ -A 79899 varied between dark brown and greenish brown within 24 hours (Fig. 6 F). Most specimens have smooth or slightly areolate dorsum with few scattered tubercles, except for QCAZ -A 76518 which has slightly tuberculate skin (Fig. 6 C). Although, in preservative, most individuals have a distinct rostral papilla on the tip of the snout, (e. g., QCAZ -A 76518, 76585, 77105), a few individuals lack it (e. g., QCAZ -A 76819 –76820, 78832). In the literature, the rostral papilla has been used as a diagnostic character (e. g., Lynch and Duellman 1997) but, given its polymorphism, its utility is limited.</p><p>Advertisement call.</p><p>The call (Fig. 13; Table 3) is a loud, single tonal click with an average duration of 0.075s (range 0.062–0.091) and a dominant frequency of 2581.0 Hz (2362.5–2779.3). As is usually the case with dynamic call parameters, the call rate has a wide range of variation, ~ 3–15 calls per minute. Males call at night over vegetation above the ground (SRR field notes; Lynch and Duellman 1997). Calling males were frequently found on bromeliads or elephant ear plants. The descriptive statistics of our call measurements are similar to those reported by Stanescu et al. (2017) for a population in Provincia de El Oro, Ecuador (reported under “ P. subsigillatus ”). Videos of two calling males at the type locality are available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Rg0dWtTiQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKow5VXw4G4.</p><p>Etymology.</p><p>The specific epithet is a noun in apposition and refers to the type locality, the Milpe Bird Sanctuary, a private reserve in Pichincha Province, Ecuador. The sanctuary protects ~ 100 ha of Foothill Montane Forest and is part of the Andean Chocó, one of the most diverse and threatened regions on the planet. The Milpe Bird Sanctuary is managed by the Mindo Cloudforest Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity in the Andean Chocó. The Foundation maintains close relationships with local communities, promoting environmental education, sustainable livelihoods, and participatory management of natural resources. It also supports other private reserves and local Decentralized Autonomous Governments in forest restoration through the production of native plants in their nurseries, strengthening long-term conservation in the region.</p><p>Distribution.</p><p>The new species is distributed in the Pacific basin of Ecuador and southern Colombia, from sea level to 1200 m of elevation (Fig. 4). In Ecuador, it occurs in Western Montane Forest, Western Foothill Forest, Choco Tropical Rainforest, and Deciduous Forest (as defined in Ron et al. 2024). It was reported from SW Colombia by Lynch and Duellman (1997), Lynch (1980 b), and Lynch and Suárez-Mayorga (2004) as “ Eleutherodactylus subsigillatus ”. Apparently, all reports are based on a single specimen, AMNH 86359, and its identification needs to be confirmed. Its occurrence in Colombia is expected given that localities in northern Ecuador are just 18 km from the border with Colombia. Pristimantis milpe has one of the largest distributions of a species of Pristimantis in the Chocó region of Ecuador.</p><p>Natural history.</p><p>Most individuals have been found in secondary forests, but they also occur in primary forests, banana plantations, silvopastures, and even urban areas (Lynch 1980 b; Fuchs 2025; Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Ecuador 2026). In Canandé, they were most frequent in old growth forest and secondary forest while being absent in pastures and cacao plantations (Fuchs 2025). Activity is nocturnal; frogs perch and call from vegetation. At Canandé, they reproduce year-round, provided that environmental conditions are suitable (Fuchs 2025). At the type locality, an amplectant pair was found on 26 December 2025 at 20: 59 h over a leaf 1.5 m above the ground in Terra Firme secondary forest; amplexus is axillary (SRR field notes). A study of amphibians inhabiting epiphytic plants on the forest canopy found three individuals in bromeliads 20 m above the ground (2 adults and 1 juvenile; the adults were reported as “ P. subsigillatus ” and the juvenile as an unidentified Pristimantis; Moretta-Urdiales et al. 2025). Males call from bromeliads (e. g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Rg0dWtTiQ) or over leaves at heights ranging from 30 cm to more than 10 m. When males are disturbed while calling from bromeliads, they sink in the water (SRR pers. obs.) At Canandé, average call height was 6.6 m, usually higher than other species of Pristimantis . They call from dusk to sunrise but calling activity peaks between 20: 30 and 22: 00 h (Fuchs 2025). Pristimantis milpe can be locally abundant (Arteaga-Navarro et al. 2013; Fuchs 2025) but most detections are based on calls heard at heights above 2 m. Juveniles and adults have been found by day in bromeliads, leaflitter, and axils of elephant ear plants (Lynch 1980 b; Lynch and Duellman 1997). The available information suggest that reproduction is linked to phytotelmata. Their egg deposition site is unknown, but they presumably are direct developers, as other Pristimantis .</p><p>Conservation status.</p><p>Based on the minimum convex polygon, the extent of occurrence for the species is 67,072 km 2. Given its large extent of occurrence, local abundance, and presence under anthropic habitat disturbance (see above), we recommend assigning this species to the Least Concern Red List category.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/B0061B8E72A95208849D496C52D445B9	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Ron, Santiago R.;Paredes-Aguirre, Poulette;Paucar, Diego A.;López, Yaara;Apunte, Katherine;Ortega, Jhael A.	Ron, Santiago R., Paredes-Aguirre, Poulette, Paucar, Diego A., López, Yaara, Apunte, Katherine, Ortega, Jhael A. (2026): Long overdue: a new, widespread, species of Pristimantis (Anura, Strabomantidae) from the Chocó region and the synonymy of Pristimantis subsigillatus. ZooKeys 1286: 121-152, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1286.194383
