PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 112(4):787-792. 1999. A new species of rainfrog of the Eleutherodactylus cruentus group from eastern Honduras (Amphibia: Anura: Leptodactyhdae) Jay M. Savage, James R. McCranie, and Larry David Wilson (JMS) Department of Biology, P.O. Box 249118, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124, U.S.A.; (JRM) 10770 SW 164th Street, Miami, Florida 33157-2933, U.S.A.; (LDW) Department of Biology, Miami-Dade Community College, Kendall Campus, Miami, Florida 33176, U.S.A. Abstract. — A new species of Eleutherodactylus (E. operosus) of the E. cruentus group is described from eastern Honduras. The new species differs from the remaining species in this group by the following combination of characters: heels with one small pustular tubercle; outer tarsus smooth; tuber-cles absent on upper eyelids; discs of fingers III-IV narrower than tympanum; disc covers and pads on fingers IXI-IV and all toes somewhat truncated; tym-panum distinct in females; loreal region long; vomerine teeth present; dorsal surfaces brown in life; groin mottled, without distinct spots; groin and anterior and ventral surfaces of thighs brown in life; and heels pale copper in life. The forests around the known locality for the new species are under heavy human assault, even though the region is part of the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve. Frogs of the genus Eleutherodactylus (s.l.) constitute the largest genus of verte-brates with about 600 valid species cur-rently recognized. The genus has an exten-sive geographic range from Arizona, U.S.A., to southern Ecuador on the Pacific slope and from Texas, USA, to Bolivia and southern Brazil on the Atlantic slope, in-cluding the West Indies. Most mainland species belong to one of two lineages (Lynch 1986, Savage 1987), the Middle American clade (I; Craugastor) or the South American clade (II; Eleuthero-dactylus S.S.). These two groups are recog-nized on the basis of distinctive synapo-morphies in the jaw muscles (Lynch 1986, Savage 1987) and karyotypes (DeWeese 1976, Savage 1987). The majority of species found in North and Central America belong to clade I, but 14 forms, mostly confined to lower Central America, are representatives of clade II. Within that clade, twelve Central American species, characterized externally by having strongly areolate ventral integument, no toe webs, and toe III much shorter than toe V, with the tip of the latter reaching the level of the distal subarticular tubercle on toe IV, may be referred to the Eleutherodactylus martinicensis series (Lynch & Duellman 1997). Prior to the present report only one member of this series, E. ridens, was known to range as far north as Honduras. In July 1997, JRM and LDW collected a single subadult female Eleutherodactylus sharing the ventral skin texture and toe fea-tures of the E. martinicensis series during three nights of searching the environs of a small stream in northeastern Olancho, Hon-duras. This specimen differed significantly from E. ridens in several characters and ap-peared to represent an undescribed species. Thus, in July-August 1998, JRM and LDW returned to the same stream hoping to col-lect additional material of this Eleuthero-dactylus. Despite six nights of searching along a broader area of the stream and sur-rounding forest, JRM and LDW were able to secure only one additional subadult fe-male of this form. The second specimen
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