Rhinella margaritifer (Laurenti, 1768)

Barrio-Amorós, César L. & Brewer-Carías, Charles, 2010, Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 1942, pp. 1-68 : 17-18

Rhinella margaritifer complex

Crested forest toad, Sapo crestado, Cro-cro (for males) / Wa-sa-wa (for females)

Camp V. 20 March 2002. EBRG 4642 (adult male). Locality VI. 22 March 2002. EBRG 4643 (adult female) .

Rhinella margaritifer comprises a complex of species ( Hoogmoed 1986, 1989). In Venezuela, four species of the complex (including what was known as R. margaritifer sensu stricto) are known: R. ceratophrys Boulenger , R. margaritifer (Laurenti) , R. nasica Werner , and R. sclerocephala Mijares-Urrutia and Arends. Rhinella ceratophrys and R. nasica occur south of the Orinoco but are known only from a few localities in Venezuela (Barrio-Amorós 1998a). The R. margaritifer complex is known from rainforests and cloud forests throughout Venezuela (Barrio-Amorós 1998a) and most of South America. Populations in northern Venezuela which may deserve specific status, as in the case of the recently described R. sclerocephala ( Mijares-Urrútia and Arends 2001) . In Colombia, at least 13 species are recognized under the name Bufo typhonius ( Vélez 1995) .

After a week of rain, we found several males calling sporadically in a creek close to Canaracuni on 20 March. We also collected a female from a creek in the foothills of Sarisariñama (LVI). The male (EBRG 4642, 49.0 mm SVL) is uniformly gray dorsally. All males observed were small compared with those of other southern Venezuelan populations. The female (EBRG 4643, 68.3 mm SVL) was uniformly yellow-orange with some darker crossbars on the limbs ( Fig. 5 ). Females have prominent cephalic crests (supraorbital, supratympanic, parietal), but no neural spines. The male has prominent supraorbital crests, but low supratympanic and parietal crests. Ye’kwanas have at least two different names for this species. The gray male was recognized as a cro-cro, an onomatopoeic name reflecting the call. The orange female was called wa-sa-wa.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Female individual of the Rhinella margaritifer complex (EBRG 4643).