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| Cambios en la textura de la piel en Pristimantis mutabilis. |
Tomado de: Guayasamin, J. M., Krynak, T., Krynak, K., Culebras, J. y Hutter, C. R. 2015. Phenotypic plasticity raises questions for taxonomically important traits: a remarkable new Andean rainfrog (Pristimantis) with the ability to change skin texture . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173:913–928.
La fauna de anfibios ecuatorianos crece a una tasa
actual de diez especies por año, las cuales son descritas como nuevas o se
reportan por primera vez de Ecuador, luego de ser conocidas de países vecinos. La
más reciente es el Cutín mutable o cambiante (Pristimantis mutabilis). Con
ese nombre acaba de ser bautizada una nueva especie para la ciencia por el
equipo de investigadores liderados por Juan Guayasamin. Se lo hace en un
reciente artículo, de libre distribución, publicado en el Zoological Journal of The Linnaean Society.
Para sorpresa de los investigadores la misma rana llena de tubérculos,
parecida al musgo en el que fue vista, y fotografiada en la naturaleza al ser llevada
al laboratorio cambió el color y la textura de su piel, la cual se hizo
lisa. Este fenómeno de variación
temporal en la textura de la piel, por primera vez reportado para la ciencia en
dos especies de ranas ecuatorianas, levanta las alertas en la comunidad de taxónomos,
quienes identifican a las especies usando la textura de la piel, que se pensaba
era una característica estable.
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| Cambios en el color y la textura de la piel en Pristimantis sobetes. Tomado de Guayasamin et al. 2015. Phenotypic plasticity raises questions for taxonomically important traits: a remarkable new Andean rainfrog (Pristimantis) with the ability to change skin texture We describe a new frog, Pristimantis mutabilis sp. nov., from the Andes of Ecuador. Individuals of the new species are remarkable for their ability to change skin texture from tuberculate to almost smooth in a few minutes, being the first documented amphibian species to show such dramatic phenotypic plasticity. The new taxon is assigned to the P. myersi group. It differs from other members of its group by body size (adult males 17.2–17.4 mm; adult females 20.9–23.2 mm), arboreal habitat, and red flash coloration in females. We document three call types for the new species, which differ through their number of notes and amplitude peaks. The three types are pulsed calls that share a dominant frequency of 3186.9–3445.3 Hz. Surprisingly, we also document similar skin texture plasticity in species (P. sobetes) from a different species group, suggesting that this ability might be more common than previously thought. The discovery of these variable species poses challenges to amphibian taxonomists and field biologists, who have traditionally used skin texture and presence/absence of tubercles as important discrete traits in diagnosing and identifying species. Reciprocal monophyly and genetic distances also support the validity of the new species, as it has distances of 15.1–16.3% (12S) and 16.4–18.6% (16S) from the most similar species, Pristimantis verecundus. Additionally, each of the two known populations of Pristimantis mutabilis are reciprocally monophyletic and exhibit a high genetic distance between them (5.0–6.5%). This pattern is best explained by the presence of a dry valley (Guayllabamba River) that seems to be acting as a dispersal barrier. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London Ver más: The New York Times A frog that can change skin texture Cleveland.com Frog species that can change shape discovered by local researchers (photos) Sci-News.com Pristimantis mutabilis: Scientists discover shape-shiftingfrog in Ecuador REdOrbit Scientists discover shape-shifting frog in Ecuador Nature Now Shape-Shifting frog can change texture of its skin El Universo Rana que muta la forma de su piel se encontró en Oriente ecuatoriano El Comercio En el país hallan una especie de rana que puede mutar la forma de su piel |
