Ranitomeya rubrocephala Schulte 1999

Brown, Jason L., Twomey, Evan, Amézquita, Adolfo, Souza, Moisés Barbosa De, Caldwell, Jana- Lee P., Lötters, Stefan, May, Rudolf Von, Melo-Sampaio, Paulo Roberto, Mejía-Vargas, Daniel, Perez-Peña, Pedro, Pepper, Mark, Poelman, Erik H., Sanchez-Rodriguez, Manuel & Summers, Kyle, 2011, A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical poison frog genus Ranitomeya (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae) 3083, Zootaxa 3083 (1), pp. 1-120 : 90-91

Ranitomeya rubrocephala Schulte 1999

Account authors: E. Twomey, J.L. Brown, S. Lötters

Fig. 38

Table 1

Dendrobates rubrocephalus Schulte 1999: p. 138 [CRS BD 5, “Ceja de Selva, Ostandenabhang und vielleicht vorgelagerte Ostkordilleren, Dep. Pasco und Junín, Höhe vermutlich zwischen 600 und 1500 m ” (= Ceja de Selva, eastern Andean versant and perhaps outlaying eastern cordilleras, Departments Pasco and Junin, elevation assumingly between 600 and 1500 m.a.s.l.), unknown collector];— Lötters & Vences 2000: p. 254; Santos et al. 2009, by implication

Ranitomeya rubrocephala — Grant et al. 2006: p. 171; Lötters et al. 2007: p. 514

Background information. This suggested species was described on the basis of two specimens, collected likely in 1956 by an unknown collector and deposited at MUSM. Initially four specimens (two lost, two now with the describer) were said to originate from the “Ceja de Selva” (= east-Andean versant) in the Department Pasco, as stated on the original label, which is a more than vague locality. According to the original description, another vague report states that this putative species occurs near Chanchamayo-San Ramón, Department Junín ( Schulte 1999: p. 143). Moreover, Schulte suggested that this poison frog may originate from the Cordillera Yanachaga or Cordillera San Matéo. Schulte (1999) described the frog as being small (adult SVL <15 mm) and entirely black in preservative with a reddish-orange head and throat patch. He speculated that the black color in preservative may be green in life and that R. sirensis (sensu Aichinger 1991) was a related taxon. Additionally, the two specimens available for the original description had two unusual characters: the finger formula was 1 <4 <2 <3, unknown in related small poison frogs which have 1 <2 <4 <3 (according to Schulte 1999), although in our experience fingers 2 and 4 are almost equal in length for most species. Second, Schulte (1999) noted a large central hook on the front of the lower jaw and a respective notch in the upper jaw. Based on Schulte’s description, R. rubrocephala resembles R. benedicta which is known only from parts of the Departments Loreto and San Martín.

Lötters & Vences (2000), despite their apparent skepticism, supported R. rubrocephala as a valid species on the basis of coloration and the unique hand morphology. However, because the original description fails to mention an adequate type locality, because no photos or descriptions exist of live specimens and the two type specimens are so badly degraded (being almost entirely black and badly shriveled with unusual posturing and twisted limbs; Fig. 38 ), it will be exceedingly difficult to ever confidently ascribe any newly collected specimen as belonging to this species. Further, it is possible that characters described for this species, including the two unusual characters mentioned above, could be artifacts of the poor condition of the specimens. As a consequence, we consider Ranitomeya rubrocephala Schulte 1999 as a nomen dubium.

Figures

FIGURE 38. Type series of Dendrobates rubrocephalus Schulte 1999. A. Holotype (BD 5H, MHNJP 408) and B. Paratype (BD 6P, MHNJP 408).