Description
Pristimantis romeroae is a semi-slender frog described from three female and one male specimens. The adult female snout-vent length range is 31.1 - 33.8 mm and the single male has a snout-vent length of 23.8 mm. The head is wider than long, and wider than the body. In the dorsal view, the snout is short and truncated, whereas in the profile it is protruding with papilla. Also in the dorsal view, the canthus is distinct with a slight curve. The loreal region is concave, but with a flat interorbital space. The distance between the eyes and the nostril is about equal to the distance between the nostrils, and both are less than the distance between the eyes. The eyes are large, larger than the tympanum diameter. The eyelid is about three-quarters of the interorbital distance and lacks tubercles and interocular folds. The tympanum is round and the upper edge is covered by a supratympanic fold. There are no cranial crests. The skin is shagreen on the dorsum and flanks, and lacks dorsolateral folds. The dorsal surface of the hind limbs transitions from smooth to shagreen posteriorly. There are scattered warts creating an areolate texture on the belly and posterior portion of the chest. The throat and the anterior portion of the chest are smooth. There is no discoidal fold. The ventral surfaces of the thighs are smooth. The skin above the cloacal region is smooth. The forearms are slender with three low and poorly defined ulnar tubercles on the outer edge. The palm has a few inconspicuous supernumerary tubercles, a bifid palmer tubercle, and an elliptical thenar tubercle, which is half the size of the palmer tubercle. The slender fingers have narrow lateral fringes, single, round subarticular tubercles, and a relative finger length of I < II < IV < III. They end in pads with truncated discs and circumferential grooves. The hind limbs are also slender, with the tibia length being about half the snout-vent length. There are no tubercles on the knee, heel, or inner surface of the tarsus. There are many, indisinct supernumerary tubercles on the plantar surface along with a prominent, elliptical inner metatarsal tubercle and a much smaller (a third) round, conical outer metatarsal tubercle. The unwebbed toes have narrow lateral fringes and a relative toe length of I < II < III < V < IV. They have simple, round subarticular tubercles and the toes end in broadly expanded, truncated discs that are the same size as the finger discs (Ron et. al 2020).

DIAGNOSIS:

Pristimantis romeroae and its close relative, P. nankints, can be distinguished by the larger size and shape of P. romeroae’s finger discs. In P. romeroae the disc may be extended and truncated, whereas in P. nankints, it is less extended and rounded. The dark dorsolateral stripe in P. romeroae differentiates it from species that have similar background coloration in preservative: P. acuminatus, P. enigmaticus, P. limoncochensis, P. omeviridis, P. pseudoacuminatus, and P. tantanti. The conspicuous tympanum in P. romeroae further differentiates it from P. acuminatus, P. limoncochensis, and P. tantanti (Ron et al. 2020).

COLORATION:

The color in life is presumed to be green. In preservative, the background color of the body is a creamy, pale orange with dark brown dorsolateral bars and paler dorsal blotches arranged in two parallel stripes in the scapular region, closer to the spine than the dorsolateral stripes. On the face, there is a faint interorbital line, a dark brown to black canthal stripe, and dark brown supratympanum stripes. The dorsal surfaces of the limbs are a brighter creamy-yellow. The ventral surfaces of the body are a yellowish cream while plantar and palmar surfaces were a dirty cream color (Ron et al. 2020).

VARIATION:

There is variation in patterning and coloration. On the dorsum, the marks can range from scattered dark brown spots to two lengthwise brown stripes. The front or ventral surfaces of limbs can vary from a creamy white to a yellowish cream color. The belly may also have white warts. Male P. romeroae have vocal slits and nuptials pads on Finger I (Ron et al. 2020).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Ecuador

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

At the time of the species description, P. romeroae was only found in one locality in the eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador, specifically at Provincia de Napo, on the south-southeast slope of the Sumaco volcano. They are found at an elevation of 1602 m above sea level in the Andean Eastern Montane Forest, which is characterized by moss covered evergreen trees and epiphytic plants (Ron et al. 2020).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Pristimantis romeroae were mostly found on low growing bromeliads during the day (Ron et al. 2020).

There is evidence that this species is tolerant of habitat disturbance as the type locality is near an area that was cleared for agriculture (Ron et al. 2020).

Trends and Threats
The type locality for this species is near areas that have been deforested for agriculture, however, the species seemed tolerant of some disturbance. At the time of the species description, the authors suggested a threat status of “Data Deficient” (Ron et al. 2020).

Comments

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS:

Maximum Likelihood analysis of 12S, 16S, and ND1 mtDNA, and RAG-1 nDNA indicate that P. romeroae is sister to a clade composed of P. nankintis and an undescribed species from Parque Nacionals Sangay, Ecuador (Ron et al. 2020).

ETYMOLOGY:

The species epithet, “romeroae,” is in honor of Giovanna Romero, an Ecuadorian botanist and wife of one of the species authority, Santiago R. Ron, in recognition of her decades of support of his work (Ron et al. 2020).

References

Ron, S. R., Carrión, J., Caminer, M. A., Sagredo, Y., Navarrete, M. J., Ortega, J. A., Varela-Jaramillo, A., Maldonado-Castro, G. A., and Terán, C. (2020). "Three new species of frogs of the genus Pristimantis (Anura, Strabomantidae) with a redefinition of the P. lacrimosus species group." ZooKeys 993, 121-155. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2023 Pristimantis romeroae: English name: Romero’s Rain Frog; Spanish name: Cutín de Romero <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/9290> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Jan 23, 2025.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2025. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 23 Jan 2025.

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