Plectrohyla miahuatlanensis
SIERRA MIAHUATLAN TREEFROG
Plectrohyla miahuatlanensis - Meik, Smith, Canseco-Márquez & Campbell 2006
IDENTIFICATION:
DISTRIBUTION:
Currently, Plectrohyla miahuatlanensis is known only from the vicinity of Candelaria Lochixa in the Sierra de Miahuatlán of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is to be expected that this frog exists only in this mountain range; however, it may be discovered elsewhere, like it’s closest relative - P. cembra (found in the Sierra de Miahuatlán and Sierra Mixteca Alta).
HABITAT:
The habitat at the only locality this frog is known from is described as mesic pine-oak forest.
NATURAL HISTORY:
Very little is known of the natural history of this species. The only known specimen, an adult female, was found during the late afternoon as it rested between the leaves of an arboreal bromeliad. Like other species in the Plectrohyla bistincta group, this frog presumably breeds in streams (most likely during the summer rainy season, June-September) and takes refuge in arboreal bromeliads and beneath the bark of logs during periods of drought.
Other species of amphibians found in sympatry with this species at the type locality are Eleutherodactylus mexicanus, Bolitoglossa oaxacensis, and Exerodonta sumichrasti.
TAXONOMY:
In the Plectrohyla bistincta group of Faivovitch et al. (2005). P. miahuatlanensis is thought to be most closely related to P. sabrina and P. cembra; the latter species is known from the general vicinity of the type-locality for Plectrohyla miahuatlanensis.
TYPE:
Described as Plectrohyla miahuatlanensis by Meik, Smith, Canseco-Márquez & Campbell (2006). Holotype: MZFC 17864. Type-locality: “…north of Candelaria Loxicha, 2550 m (16º12.844′N, 96º31.938′W), Sierra de Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico” obtained on 23 September 2001 by P. Heimes, E. N. Smith, and A. Nieto Montes de Oca.
PERSONAL NOTES:
I have no experience with this newly discovered species.
CONSERVATION STATUS:
Although no official status exists for this frog, it is probably deserving of a “Threatened” listing due to it’s presumed small geographic distribution, unknown population size, regional habitat loss and possible exposure to the chytrid fungus that is known from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca. More data is urgently needed to ascertain the status of this species in the wild.
REFERENCES:
Faivovich, J., C. F. B. Haddad, P. C. A. Garcia, D. R. Frost, J. A. Campbell, and W. C. Wheeler. 2005. Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with special reference to Hylinae: phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 294:1-240.
Meik, J. M., E. N. Smith, L. Canseco-Márquez, and J. A. Campbell. 2006. New Species of the Plectrohyla bistincta Group (Hylidae: Hylinae: Hylini) from Oaxaca, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 40(3):304-309.