Abstract
We describe a new species of Ranitomeya (family Dendrobatidae) which we discovered on a recent expedition to the Río Apaporis region in southeastern Colombia. This species had previously been referred to as Dendrobates quinquevittatus sensu Silverstone, based on a single specimen collected in the 1950s from the mouth of Río Apaporis. We found additional specimens from two sites in this region; near the town of La Pedrera (Departamento Amazonas), and on the lower Apaporis (Departamento Vaupés). We also found several R. ventrimaculata, and the two species are likely sympatric throughout much of this region. Although the new species and R. ventrimaculata have similar life-history attributes (such as using similar bromeliads for tadpole deposition), the two species clearly differ in color pattern and advertisement call parameters. Ongoing molecular studies indicate that the new species is not closely related to the sympatric R. ventrimaculata, but rather is sister to an apparently undescribed species of Ranitomeya from the upper Brazilian Amazon.References
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