A new species of Phrynopus (Anura, Strabomantidae) from Peru, with comments on the osteology of the genus

Abstract

A new, small species of Phrynopus is described from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental just north of the Río Huallaga in central Peru. The species resembles P. montium, but is distinguished from it and other congeners by its spatulate snout. The anterior end of the maxillary arcade is broadly rounded in dorsal view, and composed of wide premaxillae that bear extraordinarily large alary processes that are deflected posteriorly at an acute angle. The configuration of the premaxillae accounts for the wide, depressed snout in this species, which in other osteological features resembles P. montium. The osteology of Phrynopus montium is described in some detail in comparison to the new species, with the intention of establishing a baseline for future morphological studies and taxonomic descriptions of strabomantine anurans of this and related genera.