Ptychadena doro, Goutte & Reyes-Velasco * & Freilich & Kassie & Boissinot, 2021

Goutte, Sandra, Reyes-Velasco *, Jacobo, Freilich, Xenia, Kassie, Abeje & Boissinot, Stephane, 2021, Taxonomic revision of grass frogs (Ptychadenidae, Ptychadena) endemic to the Ethiopian highlands, ZooKeys 1016, pp. 77-141 : 77

Ptychadena doro sp. nov.

Type material.

Holotype. An adult male (SB328) collected on 8 June 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco between Dembi and Gechi, Oromia, Ethiopia (8.2195°N, 36.446°E, 2064 m a.s.l.). Paratypes. 14 males: one male (15-260) collected on 15 August 2015 by X. Freilich, J. Reyes-Velasco and S. Boissinot south of Gech’a (7.4213°N, 35.3993°E, 2316 m a.s.l.), two males (16-198, 16-200) collected on 17 July 2016 by J. Reyes-Velasco and S. Boissinot northwest of Jimma (7.7307°N, 36.6926°E, 2218 m a.s.l.), two females (16-344, 16-350) and 3 males (16-352, 16-353, 16-361) collected on 21 July 2016 by J. Reyes-Velasco and S. Boissinot south of Gech’a (7.4212°N-7.4393°N, 35.3992-35.4047°E, 2240-2304 m a.s.l.), one male (SB247) collected on 24 April 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco west of Jimma (7.5449°N, 36.582°E, 2272 m a.s.l.), two females (SB298, SB309) and 3 males (SB299, SB311, SB312) collected on 7 June 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco between Dembi and Gechi (8.2195-8.2524°N, 36.446-36.4465°E, 2064-2198 m a.s.l.), one female (SB327) collected on 8 June 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco between Dembi and Gechi (8.2195°N, 36.446°E, 2064 m a.s.l.), one female (SB346) collected on 9 June 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco west of Gore (8.1645°N, 35.3819°E, 1654 m a.s.l.), one male (SB386) collected on 11 June 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco south of Gech’a (7.5544°N, 35.4148°E, 1936 m a.s.l.), one male (SB408) collected on 13 June 2018 by S. Goutte and J. Reyes-Velasco south of Gech’a (7.5532°N, 35.4158°E, 1940 m a.s.l.). All specimens are deposited at ZNHM.

Diagnosis.

Moderately large (male (13) SVL 35.8 ± 2.2 mm, female (6) SVL 42.4 ± 5.7 mm) member of the Ptychadena neumanni species group (Fig. 20 ) distinguished by the following combination of characters: (1) long hind limbs (male TL/SVL 0.58 ± 0.03, female TL/SVL 0.64 ± 0.11), (2) long hands (male HAL/SVL 0.24 ± 0.02, female HAL/SVL 0.25 ± 0.05), (3) long snout (male SL/SVL 0.16 ± 0.01, female SL/SVL 0.16 ± 0.02), (4) relatively small tympanum (male TD/ED 0.64 ± 0.09, female TD/ED 0.63 ± 0.1), (5) light vertical stripe on the tympanum, (6) vocal sacs are grey or dark grey posteriorly and lighter anteriorly,

Comparison.

Ptychadena doro sp. nov. can be distinguished from all medium sized Ethiopian Ptychadena by its long feet and smaller tympanum. It can be further distinguished from P. beka sp. nov. by a narrower head and longer tibias. Snout is longer, inter-nares distance is greater and hands are longer than in P. erlangeri and P. levenorum . It can be distinguished from P. amharensis and P. levenorum by its larger inter-orbital distance. Ptychadena doro sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. delphina sp. nov. by a smaller body, a narrower head and shorter inter-orbital distance.

Description of the holotype.

A medium-sized (SVL 36.4 mm) adult male with long hind limbs (TL/SVL 0.58; Fig. 20 , Suppl. material 3: Table S1). Head as long as wide. Snout projecting beyond the lower jaw. Interorbital distance 0.60 × the eye diameter. Internarial distance 1.08 × interorbital distance. Tympanum 0.63 × eye diameter. Finger tips not expanded but rounded, with very small subarticular tubercles. Finger formula: I<II<IV<III. Hand free of webbing, palmar tubercle absent. Nuptial pads light grey to cream, extending dorsally to the second finger. Hindlimbs elongated, with tibia length 0.57 × snout-vent length. Foot longer than thigh and slightly longer than tibia (FL/THL 1.20, FL/TL 1.01). Toe tips rounded. Subarticular tubercles extremely small. Inner metatarsal tubercle present, external absent. Toe formula: I<II<V<III<IV. Foot webbing formula: Ie(1), IIi/e(1-1), IIIi/e(1-2), IVi/e(2-2), Vi(2). Two light brown, continuous lateral ridges, two continuous and four interrupted dorsal ridges. No vertebral nor sacral ridges. Very small, translucent warts on the body and small round warts on tibias and feet. Tongue free for half of its length, bifurcated at the end. Vomerine, maxillary and premaxillary teeth present.

Coloration of the holotype in life.

Dorsal ground color brown with a few elongated dark brown blotches symmetrically distributed on the dorsolateral ridges. Wide light grey-brown vertebral stripe, doubled with a thin, clearer stripe from the tip of the snout to the vent. Dark olive brown canthal stripe from the tip of the snout to the back of the jaw. Light vertical stripe on the otherwise brown tympanum. Upper and lower lip cream to light brown with irregular brown markings.

Iris bicolored, with upper third light silver-grey, and the lower two thirds dark brown. Irregular dark olive brown blotches fused into a large undefined mark on the flanks. Throat, ventrum, ventral side of the thighs and tibias uniformly light yellow. Two small symmetrical dark brown blotches on the antero-ventral side of the shoulders. Thin, barely visible, light longitudinal stripe on the tibias. Few white round warts on the tibias. Hind limbs brown with dark olive bars over the thighs, tibias, and feet. A few very small round white dots around the groin. Back of the thighs dark brown irregularly molted with yellow. Vocal sacs uniformly dark grey.

Coloration of the holotype in preservative.

Dorsal ground color grey with a few oval dark brown blotches symmetrically distributed on the dorsolateral ridges. Wide lighter brown vertebral stripe from the tip of the snout to the vent. Dark brown canthal stripe from the tip of the snout to the back of the jaw. Faint vertical stripe on the otherwise brown tympanum. Upper lip and lower lips cream heavily blotched with grey. Flanks brown with a few irregular small dark brown blotches. Throat, ventrum, ventral side of the thighs and tibias uniformly cream. Two symmetrical grey blotches on the ventral side of the shoulders. Faint, thin longitudinal stripe on the tibias. No distinct bars on the thighs or tibias. A few small round white spots forming a line on the posterior side of tibias. Back of thighs molted yellowish cream and brown. Vocal sacs dark grey. Nuptial pads light grey.

Variations.

In life, background color varies from yellowish brown to dark brown. Dorsal ridges vary in number and definition. In all examined specimens, median ridges were continuous from eye level to the groin. Postpalpebral fold usually interrupted in the middle of the back, sometimes continuing on the lower back by a ridge or multiple aligned warts. Short laterodorsal fold almost always present, sometimes fractioned. Lateral ridges generally briefly interrupted once or twice and from orange to cream. All specimens examined had small dark brown or black blotches distributed symmetrically on the dorsal ridges. Inguinal area yellowish in some individuals. Most individuals have a wide, generally around a lighter thin stripe, some individuals have a thin vertebral stripe only. All examined specimens had a very conspicuous cream blotch on the tympanum.

The thin cream longitudinal stripe on the tibia may be more or less conspicuous and extended to the thigh or half of the thigh and the foot in some individuals. Tibias, thighs, and feet posteriorly barred with more or less defined brown or light brown markings. Yellow and brown marbling on the posterior side of the thighs almost absent in some individuals. Ventrum and throat uniformly light yellow, sometimes very lightly dusted with light grey on the throat. Vocal sacs grey, bicolored cream and grey in some individuals, and rarely light grey. Small warts over the back and flanks in ca. 50% of adult males.

Etymology.

The species name is the Amharic translation of chicken (ዶሮ), in reference to the advertisement call of the species resembling a chicken’s song. The advertisement call distinguishes best Ptychadena doro sp. nov. from the syntopic species P. delphina sp. nov.

Habitat, distribution, and natural history.

The distribution range of Ptychadena doro sp. nov. is restricted to mid-elevations (1654 to 2318 m a.s.l.), west of the GRV. The easternmost populations have been found around Jimma and south of Bedele. Individuals have been collected west of Metu and between Metu and Tippi. Males of P. doro sp. nov. call at night in flooded grassland ponds or puddles, or in rainwater-filled holes on the road. Within the genus Ptychadena , P. doro sp. nov. is found in sympatry with P. beka sp. nov., P. delphina sp. nov. and P. neumanni . Males of P. doro sp. nov. have been found calling jointly with males of P. delphina sp. nov.

Advertisement call.

The call of Ptychadena doro sp. nov. (3 males, 21 calls) is reminiscent of a chicken call. It is composed of a single, pulsed note of 411 ± 41 ms in duration. Pulses are partly fused without any silent intervals between them. Amplitude increases during most of the note (peak amplitude at 295 ± 39 ms) and decreases abruptly at the end of the note. As in other Ethiopian Ptychadena species, call repetition rate is highly variable and dependent of the social context. Call dominant frequency is 1966 ± 105 Hz, with a gradual increase in frequency within the note. Frequency bandwidth is remarkably narrower than that of the calls of the other species of the P. neumanni complex (415 ± 31 Hz), resulting in a more tonal sound. The call of P. doro sp. nov. is easily distinguishable from the call of all other species of the P. neumanni complex by its single note, tonal call composed of indistinct pulses.

Figures

Figure 20. Ptychadena doro sp. nov. A live male holotype (SB 328; left) and female paratype (SB 327, right) B dorsal and ventral views of the same individuals (male left, female right) after euthanasia and before fixation.