Taxonomy, distribution and conservation of the Glassfrogs (Amphibia, Anura, Centrolenidae) of Ecuador

The Glassfrogs (Centrolenidae) are an apparently monophyletic group of Neotropical anurans that includes 136 described species. The phylogenetic relationships of the family with other clades are still poorly understood and at the moment the family can be defined only by shared apomorphies. The current generic concepts that recognize Centrolene, Cochranella and Hyalinobatrachium do not seem to reflect the true evolutive relationships of the family. Study of ca. 500 specimens from different localities across Central and South America shows the existence of new undescribed species, taxonomic and nomenclatural confusions, and the need to review and reconsider the intra and intergeneric and specific relationships of the Centrolenidae. We restrict the name Hyalinobatrachium petersi for a taxon from the lowlands of the Ecuadorian Choco and report the first records of Centrolene lemniscatum and Hyalinobatrachum ruedai from Ecuador. The discovery of a new species of the group of Centrolene gorzulai on the eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador raises questions about the synapomorphies assigned to each genus and about the biogeography of the family. New data on internal and external morphology and behavior allow reconsidering the classification of intrageneric groups of Centrolene and Cochranella and re-evaluating the taxonomic usefulness of certain characters (e.g., shape/color of liver, humeral spine, color of bones). Our analysis suggests the need to divide the species of southeastern Brazil into a different genus, restricting Hyalionobatrachium to the fleischmanni group; the situation is still confused for the pulveratum group and conservatively is kept within the genus Hyalinobatrachium until additional morphological and phylogenetic analysis. At least five species of glass frogs of Ecuador are critically endangered; some considerations on the state of conservation of Centrolenidae in the country are presented.