Santiago Ron

Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador | PUCE · Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas

One application of ecological niche modeling is predicting suitable areas for the establishment of invasive species. Herein, I model the fundamental niche of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a pathogen linked to amphibian declines on several continents. Niche models were generated with the Genetic Algorithm of Rule-Set Prediction...

As the Earth warms, many species are likely to disappear, often because of changing disease dynamics. Here we show that a recent mass extinction associated with pathogen outbreaks is tied to global warming. Seventeen years ago, in the mountains of Costa Rica, the Monteverde harlequin frog (Atelopus sp.) vanished along with the golden toad (Bufo per...

We developed an approach that combines distribution data, environmental geographic information system layers, environmental niche models, and phylogenetic information to investigate speciation processes. We used Ecuadorian frogs of the family Dendrobatidae to illustrate our methodology. For dendrobatids there are several cases for which there is si...

The Jambato Toad, Atelopus ignescens, is endemic to montane forests, inter-Andean valleys, and paramos in Ecuador. Although formerly abundant and widely distributed, the species has not been recorded in nature since 1988. To determine its population status, data from intensive surveys in 1999-2001 are compared with those from 1967 and 1981. Presenc...

Female mate preferences can favour the evolution of complex secondary sex traits in males. A mechanism increasingly explored to explain the origin of such male traits is sensory exploitation. Under sensory exploitation, female mating preferences are by-products of sensory biases that originate previously (often in nonreproductive contexts). Túngara...

Understanding the origins of novel, complex phenotypes is a major goal in evolutionary biology. Poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae have evolved the novel ability to acquire alkaloids from their diet for chemical defense at least three times. However, taxon sampling for alkaloids has been biased towards colorful species, without similar attent...

Although biologists have described biofluorescence in a diversity of taxa, there have been few systematic efforts to document the extent of biofluorescence within a taxonomic group or investigate its general significance. Through a field survey across South America, we discover and document patterns of biofluorescence in tropical amphibians. We mor...

Understanding the origins of novel, complex phenotypes is a major goal in evolutionary biology. Poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae have evolved the novel ability to acquire alkaloids from their diet for chemical defense at least three times. However, taxon sampling for alkaloids has been biased towards colorful species, without similar attent...

Understanding the origins of novel, complex phenotypes is a major goal in evolutionary biology. Poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae have evolved the novel ability to acquire alkaloids from their diet for chemical defense at least three times. However, taxon sampling for alkaloids has been biased towards colorful species, without similar attent...

We describe a new species of Centrolene from the Subandean Cordillera of Kutukú in southeastern Ecuador. The new species differs from all other glassfrogs by the combination of the following characters: presence of processes of vomers but without vomerine teeth; humeral spines in males; dorsum green with light green dots and without dark marks; dor...

We present the description of a novel treefrog species inhabiting the Andean streams in southeastern Ecuador that has been erroneously identified as Hyloscirtus lindae for four decades. The new species is closely related to H. tapichalaca and is part of the southern clade of the H. larinopygion group, which comprises five species confined to the so...

Understanding the origins of novel, complex phenotypes is a major goal in evolutionary biology. Poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae have evolved the novel ability to acquire alkaloids from their diet for chemical defense at least three times. However, taxon sampling for alkaloids has been biased towards colorful species, without similar attent...

The mainly Mesoamerican cane toad, Rhinella horribilis, is the northernmost species in the Rhinella marina species group of giant or cane toads, occupying an extensive range west of the Andean Cordillera from Ecuador north to southern Texas. However, a thorough assessment of geographic variation among R. horribilis populations, and of the phylogene...

With up to 137 species worldwide, Myotis,— a genus of small, insectivorous bats are an example for understanding biogeographic and evolutionary processes such as intercontinental colonization, diversification, speciation, and convergent adaptive evolution. Species limits and associated distributions, however, remain poorly delineated across signifi...

The accumulation of studies delimiting species in Amazonia has not only shed light on the patterns of its outstanding species richness but also allowed a better understanding of the processes of diversification within this immense region. Nevertheless, vast knowledge gaps remain even for prominent anuran species complexes, such as the Rhinella marg...

Natural history museums are vital repositories of specimens, samples and data that inform about the natural world; this Formal Comment revisits a Perspective that advocated for the adoption of compassionate collection practices, querying whether it will ever be possible to completely do away with whole animal specimen collection.

Amphibians are ideal for studying visual system evolution because their biphasic (aquatic and terrestrial) life history and ecological diversity expose them to a broad range of visual conditions. Here, we evaluate signatures of selection on visual opsin genes across Neotropical anurans and focus on three diurnal clades that are well-known for the c...

The human population of Galapagos has rapidly increased in the last decades accelerating the anthropogenic pressures on the archipelago’s natural resources. The growing human footprint, including inadequate management of garbage, may lead to conservation conflicts. Here, we assessed the ingestion of debris by Western Santa Cruz giant tortoises (Che...

Scinax is the most species-rich genus of Neotropical treefrogs, with 129 currently recognized species divided between two major clades, the S. catharinae and S. ruber clades. The S. catharinae clade includes 52 species currently placed in the S. perpusillus and S. catharinae groups, whereas the S. ruber clade is composed of 77 species, 13 of which...

Our study assesses the variability of amphibian biofluorescence and provides insight into its potential functions and role in anuran evolution. Via a field survey across South America, we discovered and documented patterns of biofluorescence in tropical amphibians. We more than tripled the number of species that have been tested for this trait and...

We describe a new species of Osteocephalus Fitzinger, 1843 using morphological traits of adult frogs and its larvae, as well as molecular evidence. The new species occurs in the premontane forest of the Cordillera del Yanachaga in the Andes of central Peru, at elevations between 1000 and 1150 m a.s.l. It belongs to the Osteocephalus mimeticus speci...

Poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are famous for their aposematic species, having a combination of diverse color patterns and defensive skin toxins, yet most species in this family are inconspicuously colored and considered non-aposematic. Epipedobates is among the youngest genus-level clades of Dendrobatidae that includes both aposematic and inconspicu...

Guedes et al.1 argue that eponymous scientific names, despite their long tradition in biology, have no place in the modern world. They want to erase eponyms assigned to species in the past and want scientists to stop naming new species after people. Both of these proposals would hurt science and disproportionately hurt science in the Global South —...

Guedes and colleagues’ call to eliminate taxonomic eponyms stems from intense ongoing debates. The International Code on Zoological Nomenclature Commission has categorically stated that it will not do this; doing so would eliminate the stability that the code provides and would sow chaos at a time when scientists must work together to mitigate the...

We describe two new species of glassfrogs of the genus Centrolene living in syntopy at La Enramada, province of Azuay, southwestern Ecuador. They were found in a small creek in montane evergreen forests at 2,900 m elevation. The first new species is distinguished from all other members of the genus Centrolene by having the following combination of...

Aim The emergence of large‐scale patterns of animal body size is the central expectation of a wide range of (macro)ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. The drivers shaping these patterns include climate (e.g. Bergmann's rule), resource availability (e.g. ‘resource rule’), biogeographic settings and niche partitioning (e.g. adaptive radiation). H...

Amphibians are ideal for studying visual system evolution because their biphasic (aquatic and terrestrial) life history and ecological diversity expose them to a broad range of visual conditions. Here we evaluate signatures of selection on visual opsin genes across Neotropical anurans and focus on three diurnal clades that are well-known for the co...

Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment of the conserva- tion effectiveness of PAs using species distribution models. Our analyses reveal that >91% of herpetofauna species are c...

Restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) has become an accessible way to obtain genome-wide data in the form of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for phylogenetic inference. Nonetheless, how differences in RADseq methods influence phylogenetic estimation is poorly understood because most comparisons have largely relied on conceptual...

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2089269.

The diversification processes underlying why Amazonia hosts the most species-rich vertebrate fauna on earth remain poorly understood. We studied the spatio-temporal diversification of a tree frog clade distributed throughout Amazonia (Anura: Hylidae: Osteocephalus , Tepuihyla , and Dryaderces ) and tested the hypothesis that Miocene mega wetlands l...

Amphibians are a clade of over 8,400 species that provide unique research opportunities and challenges. With amphibians undergoing severe global declines, we posit that assessing our current understanding of amphibians is imperative. Focusing on the past five years (2016–2020), we examine trends in amphibian research, data, and systematics. New spe...

Determining the relative importance of dispersal and vicariance events across neotropical regions is a major goal in biogeography. These events are thought to be related to important landscape changes, notably the transition of Amazonia toward its modern hydrological configuration ca. 10 million years ago. We investigated the spatio-temporal contex...

We describe six new species of rainfrogs of the genus Pristimantis (Strabomantidae) from Amazonian cloud forests in Ecuador. We also present a phylogeny showing the relationships of the new species. The phylogeny is based on mitochondrial genes 16S rRNA (16S), 12 rRNA (12S), NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase chain 1 (ND1) and the nuclear gene recombin...

Through the combination of morphological and phylogenetic evidence, we describe two species of Pristimantis from the upper basin of the Napo River. Both species have well-defined dorso-lateral folds, a conical tubercle on the eyelid, a papilla on the tip of the snout, weakly expanded discs, and small size (female SVL < 28.2 mm). Pristimantis omarrh...

Field biology is an area of research that involves working directly with living organisms in situ through a practice known as “fieldwork.” Conducting fieldwork often requires complex logistical planning within multiregional or multinational teams, interacting with local communities at field sites, and collaborative research led by one or a few of t...

Major historical landscape changes have left significant signatures on species diversification. However, how these changes have affected the build-up and maintenance of Amazonia’s megadiversity continues to be debated. Here, we addressed this issue by focusing on the evolutionary history of a pan-Amazonian toad genus that has diversified throughout...

Amphibians are a clade of over 8,400 species that provide unique research opportunities and challenges. With amphibians undergoing severe global declines, taking stock of our current understanding of amphibians is imperative. Focusing on 2016–2020, we assessed trends in amphibian publishing, conservation research, systematics, and community resourc...

We describe a new species of Pristimantis from southern Ecuador, province of Zamora Chinchipe. The new species is closely related to an undescribed species of Pristimantis from Reserva Tapichalaca, Ecuador and with species of a clade historically assigned to the P. unistrigatus species group, such as P. parvillus, P. luteolateralis, P. walkeri, amo...

Several species of Cophomantini are known to have an enlarged prepollex, commonly modified as an osseous spine. We surveyed the osteology and myology of the prepollex and associated elements of 94 of the 190 species of Cophomantini, sampling all genera, except Nesorohyla. Two distinct prepollex morphologies were found: a bladeshaped and a spine-sha...

With up to 140 species of Myotis worldwide, these small, insectivorous bats are an exemplar for understanding biogeographic process such as intercontinental colonization and evolutionary processes of diversification, speciation, and convergent adaptative evolution. Species limits and associated distributions, however, remain poorly delineated acros...

Species richness in the genus Pristimantis is underestimated due to the existence of morphologically cryptic species. This is worsened by the low sampling effort and the lack of studies using genetic markers. Here, we use molecular and morphological data to determine the phylogenetic relationships of a clade of Pristimantis distributed throughout m...

With 566 species, the neotropical genus Pristimantis is the most speciose vertebrate genus. As a result of its striking diversity, taxonomic reviews remain a challenge. Herein, we present an updated phylogeny of the Pristimantis lacrimosus group and describe a new species from Llanganates and Sangay National Parks. We also report, for the first tim...

Poison frogs sequester lipophilic alkaloids into their skin for use in chemical defense against predators. Many poison frog species use flashy colors to warn predators of the noxious compounds in their skin, a defense mechanism called aposematism. The poison frog group Epipedobates has high variation in the types of alkaloids it uses in defense and...

We conducted a long-term inventory of the herpetofauna of Wildsumaco Wildlife Sanctuary in the eastern part of the Napo Province in Ecuador. This private preserve is about 500 ha in size and is located on the southern slopes of Volcán Sumaco. The preserve contains primary forest, secondary forest, and pasture habitats. Based mostly on nocturnal tra...

True toads of the genus Rhinella are among the most common and diverse group of Neotropical anurans. These toads are widely distributed throughout South America, inhabiting a great diversity of environments and ecoregions. Currently, however, the genus is defined solely on the basis of molecular characters, and it lacks a proper diagnosis. Although...

The outstanding species richness of Amazonia has fascinated biologists for centuries. However, the records of actual numbers and distribution of species forming its ecosystems are so incomplete that the understanding of the historical causes and regional determinants of this diversity remain speculative. Anuran clades have repeatedly been documente...

The outstanding biodiversity of the Guiana Shield has raised many questions about its origins and evolution. Frogs of the genera Adelastes, Otophryne and Synapturanus form an ancient lineage distributed mostly across this region. These genera display strikingly disparate morphologies and life-history traits. Notably, Synapturanus is conspicuously a...

Microbiome‐pathogen interactions are increasingly recognised as an important element of host immunity. While these host‐level interactions will have consequences for community disease dynamics, the factors which influence host microbiomes at larger scales are poorly understood. We here describe landscape scale pathogen‐microbiome associations withi...

The Leptodactylus melanonotus species group is widely distributed across the Neotropics and contains 17 valid species. Here we reassess the taxonomic status of several taxa of the group, focusing mainly on the Amazonian L. petersii and both its junior synonyms (L. brevipes and L. intermedius), based on morphological, acoustic, cytogenetic, and DNA...

Molecular phylogenies have yielded strong support for many parts of the amphibian Tree of Life, but poor support for the resolution of deeper nodes, including relationships among families and orders. To clarify these relationships, we provide a phylogenomic perspective on amphibian relationships by developing a taxon-specific Anchored Hybrid Enrich...

We describe through integrative taxonomy a new Amazonian species of leaf-litter toad of the Rhinella margaritifera species group. The new species inhabits open lowland forest in southwest Amazonia in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. It is closely related to a Bolivian species tentatively identified as Rhinella cf. paraguayensis. Both the new species and...

Updated IUCN Red List assessment of Nymphargus balionotus.

A new phylogeny for the Pristimantis lacrimosus species group is presented, its species content reviewed, and three new species described from the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. Our phylogeny includes, for the first time, samples of P. aureolineatus, P. bromeliaceus, and P. lacrimosus. The morphology of hyperdistal subarticular tubercles i...

We describe two new species of salamanders of the genus Oedipina, subgenus Oe-dopinola, from two localities on the northwestern foothills of Ecuador, at elevations between 921 and 1,067 m. These are the southernmost members of the genus. We examined different museum collections and we found just three specimens of Oedipina from Ecuador, obtained th...

The adaptive role of amphibian oocyte melanic pigmentation and its molecular control are still elusive. Here we present evidence of a polymorphism in egg pigmentation in the emerald glass frog Espadarana prosoblepon. In Ecuadorian natural populations of this species, females can lay dark brown or pale eggs that develop into normal pigmented tadpole...

The combination of genetic and phenotypic characters for species delimitation has allowed the discovery of many undescribed species of Neotropical amphibians. In this study, we used DNA sequences (genes 12S, 16S, ND1 and COI) and morphologic, bioacoustic and environmental characters of the Boana semilineata group to evaluate their phylogenetic rela...

Aim We investigate the spatiotemporal context of the diversification of Allobates, a widespread genus of Amazonian frogs with high species diversity particularly in western Amazonia. We tested if that diversity originated in situ or through repeated dispersals from other Amazonian areas and if this diversification took place during or after the Peb...

Many vertebrates have distinctive blue-green bones and other tissues due to unusually high biliverdin concentrations—a phenomenon called chlorosis. Despite its prevalence, the biochemical basis, biology, and evolution of chlorosis are poorly understood. In this study, we show that the occurrence of high biliverdin in anurans (frogs and toads) has e...

Supporting information for the article "Systematics of the Boana semilineata species group (Anura: Hylidae), with a description of two new species from Amazonian Ecuador"

The Andes have experienced an unprecedented wave of amphibian declines and extinctions that are linked to a combination of habitat reduction and the spread of the fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). In the present study, a range of high-altitude habitats in Southern Ecuador were surveyed for the presence of Bd. With a particular f...

General consensus emphasizes that no single biological process can explain the patterns of species' distributions and diversification in the Neotropics. Instead, the interplay of several processes across space and time must be taken into account. Here we investigated the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history of tree frogs in the Dend...