A new golden frog species of the genus Diasporus (Amphibia, Eleutherodactylidae) from the Cordillera Central, western Panama

We describe the frog species Diasporus citrinobapheussp. n. from the Cordillera Central of western Panama. The new species differs from all other species in its genus in coloration, disk cover and disk pad shape, skin texture, advertisement call, and size. It is most similar to Diasporus tigrillo, from which it differs in dorsal skin texture, relative tibia length, number of vomerine teeth, ventral coloration, dorsal markings, and relative tympanum size, and to Diasporus gularis, from which it can be distinguished by the lack of membranes between the toes, adult size, posterior thigh coloration, and position of the choanae. We provide data on morpho- logy, vocalization, and distribution of the new species, as well as brief information on its natural history.Describimos la especie de rana Diasporus citrinobapheus sp. n. de la Cordillera Central, occidente de Panamá. La nueva especie se distingue de otras especies del género por su coloración, su forma de la cubierta y la almohadilla de los discos, textura de la piel, canto de anúncio, y tamaño corporal. Se asemeja mas a D. tigrillo, del cual se distingue por la textura de la piel dorsal, longitud relativa de la tibia, número de dientes vomerianos, coloración ventral, patrón dorsal, y tamaño relativo del tímpano, y a D. gularis, del cual se diferencia por la ausencia de membranas entre los dedos de pie, tamaño corporal, coloración de la parte trasera del muslo, y posición de las coanas. Presentamos datos de la morfología, vocalización, y distribución de la nueva especie, así como notas concisas de su historia natural

Field notes on findings of threatened amphibian species in the central mountain range of western Panama

During field work along a transect in the Cordillera Central of western Panama between 2008 and 2010, we detected several populations of amphibian species which are considered as “Endangered” or “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN. Some of these species had suffered from serious population declines, probably due to chytridiomycosis, but all are generally threatened by habitat loss. We detected 53% of the Endangered and 56% of the Critically Endangered amphibian species that have previously been reported from within the investigated area. We report on findings of species that have not been found in Panama for many years, and provide locality data of newly discovered populations. There is a need to create a new protected area in the Cerro Colorado area of the Serranía de Tabasará, where we found 15% of the Endangered and Critically Endangered amphibian species known to Panama.Durante trabajo de campo en un transecto a lo largo de la Cordillera Central en el oeste de Panamá entre 2008 y 2010, encontramos varias poblaciones de anfibios que son considerados “En Peligro” o “En Peligro Crítico” por la UICN. Algunas de estas especies habían sufrido serias disminuciones de sus poblaciones, probablemente causadas por la quitridiomicosis, pero todas se encuentran amenazadas por pérdida de hábitat. Detectamos el 53% de las especies En Peligro y el 56% de las especies En Peligro Crítico que se habían reportado previamente en el área de estudio. Reportamos hallazgos de especies que no se habían avistado en Panamá por muchos años, así como localidades de poblaciones descubiertas por primera vez. Se requiere crear una nueva área de protección en los alrededores del Cerro Colorado en la Serranía de Tabasará, donde se han encontrado 15% de los anfibios En Peligro y En Peligro Crítico de todo Panamá

Searching for Realizations of Finite Metric Spaces in Tight Spans

An important problem that commonly arises in areas such as internet traffic-flow analysis, phylogenetics and electrical circuit design, is to find a representation of any given metric $D$ on a finite set by an edge-weighted graph, such that the total edge length of the graph is minimum over all such graphs. Such a graph is called an optimal realization and finding such realizations is known to be NP-hard. Recently Varone presented a heuristic greedy algorithm for computing optimal realizations. Here we present an alternative heuristic that exploits the relationship between realizations of the metric $D$ and its so-called tight span $T_D$. The tight span $T_D$ is a canonical polytopal complex that can be associated to $D$, and our approach explores parts of $T_D$ for realizations in a way that is similar to the classical simplex algorithm. We also provide computational results illustrating the performance of our approach for different types of metrics, including $l_1$-distances and two-decomposable metrics for which it is provably possible to find optimal realizations in their tight spans.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Inferring network connectivity using kinetic Ising models

Poster presentation</p

A new species of rainfrog of the genus Diasporus (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) from Serranía de Tabasará, Panama

A new frog species of the genus Diasporus is described from Llano Tugrí, Corregimiento de Peña Blanca, Distrito de Müna, Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé, Serranía de Tabasará, west-central Panama, around 1700 m a.s.l. The new species differs from all other members of the genus by a combination of morphological characters, in particular, its large size, its dorsal skin texture and its bright coloration. This species is the largest species in the genus Diasporus; it is an inhabitant of cloud forest, living among mosses and bromeliads. All specimens were found between the understory (≈ 1–2 m) and the mid-canopy (≈ 2–10 m). The call of this species consists of single, short notes that are reminiscent of a “whistle” and range from 2.0 to 2.7 kHz. Herein we present, besides morphological data used to describe the new species, the description of the male mating call, a distribution map, and brief ecological notes.A new frog species of the genus Diasporus is described from Llano Tugrí, Corregimiento de Peña Blanca, Distrito de Müna, Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé, Serranía de Tabasará, west-central Panama, around 1700 m a.s.l. The new species differs from all other members of the genus by a combination of morphological characters, in particular, its large size, its dorsal skin texture and its bright coloration. This species is the largest species in the genus Diasporus; it is an inhabitant of cloud forest, living among mosses and bromeliads. All specimens were found between the understory (≈ 1–2 m) and the mid-canopy (≈ 2–10 m). The call of this species consists of single, short notes that are reminiscent of a “whistle” and range from 2.0 to 2.7 kHz. Herein we present, besides morphological data used to describe the new species, the description of the male mating call, a distribution map, and brief ecological notes

New distribution records and variation of the two common lowland salamanders Bolitoglossa colonnea (Dunn, 1924) and B. lignicolor (Peters, 1873) in Panama (Amphibia: Caudata: Plethodontidae)

We revise the geographic distribution of two common lowland salamanders in western Panama. We close the widest gap in the known distribution of Bolitoglossa colonnea with a first record for the province of Veraguas and extend its known vertical distribution to a third life zone. For B. lignicolor we present additional localities in the province of Chiriquí and the first record from Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé that close the gap between extreme western Panama and the Azuero Peninsula. We present morphological, molecular, and coloration data for both species

A new species of rainfrog of the genus Diasporus (Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) from Serranía de Tabasará, Panama

A new frog species of the genus Diasporus is described from Llano Tugrí, Corregimiento de Peña Blanca, Distrito de Müna, Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé, Serranía de Tabasará, west-central Panama, around 1700 m a.s.l. The new species differs from all other members of the genus by a combination of morphological characters, in particular, its large size, its dorsal skin texture and its bright coloration. This species is the largest species in the genus Diasporus; it is an inhabitant of cloud forest, living among mosses and bromeliads. All specimens were found between the understory (≈ 1–2 m) and the mid-canopy (≈ 2–10 m). The call of this species consists of single, short notes that are reminiscent of a “whistle” and range from 2.0 to 2.7 kHz. Herein we present, besides morphological data used to describe the new species, the description of the male mating call, a distribution map, and brief ecological notes.A new frog species of the genus Diasporus is described from Llano Tugrí, Corregimiento de Peña Blanca, Distrito de Müna, Comarca Ngöbe-Buglé, Serranía de Tabasará, west-central Panama, around 1700 m a.s.l. The new species differs from all other members of the genus by a combination of morphological characters, in particular, its large size, its dorsal skin texture and its bright coloration. This species is the largest species in the genus Diasporus; it is an inhabitant of cloud forest, living among mosses and bromeliads. All specimens were found between the understory (≈ 1–2 m) and the mid-canopy (≈ 2–10 m). The call of this species consists of single, short notes that are reminiscent of a “whistle” and range from 2.0 to 2.7 kHz. Herein we present, besides morphological data used to describe the new species, the description of the male mating call, a distribution map, and brief ecological notes

Reptilia, Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae, Potamites apodemus (Uzzell, 1966): distribution extension and first records from Panama

Reporting on the southernmost locality in Costa Rica and the first two localities in Panama, we extend the known geographic distribution of the lizard Potamites apodemus (Uzzell, 1966) roughly 20 km eastwards, 40 km southwards, and 175 m in elevation. We provide photos of Panamanian specimens, comment on their morphology, and map the distribution of this unique species

Biological predictors of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN): MASCC neurological complications working group overview.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and debilitating condition associated with a number of chemotherapeutic agents. Drugs commonly implicated in the development of CIPN include platinum agents, taxanes, vinca alkaloids, bortezomib, and thalidomide analogues. As a drug response can vary between individuals, it is hypothesized that an individual's specific genetic variants could impact the regulation of genes involved in drug pharmacokinetics, ion channel functioning, neurotoxicity, and DNA repair, which in turn affect CIPN development and severity. Variations of other molecular markers may also affect the incidence and severity of CIPN. Hence, the objective of this review was to summarize the known biological (molecular and genomic) predictors of CIPN and discuss the means to facilitate progress in this field