Despite recent efforts to accelerate exploration and species description, the diversity of high Andean frogs remains highly underestimated. We report high levels of species diversity in direct-developing frogs or terraranas inhabiting the wet puna and adjacent cloud forests of the Amazonian versant of the Andes in Bolivia and Peru. Descriptive evidence of external morphology, distribution patterns and molecular phylogenetic analyses support the existence of nine unnamed species in two clades, which represents a 30% increase in species diversity for those clades. The relationships of these species and their relatives in Holoadeninae are tested using nuclear and mitochondrial genes for 159 terminals representing the 11 genera in this subfamily and 25 species of previously unknown relationships. Our results corroborate species monophyly in all but three cases and support the monophyly of al...

We are deeply grateful to Wolfgang Wüster for his kind help and suggestions that enriched the manuscript, and to José María Gutiérrez and Gerardo Leynaud for their interest and useful comments on this work. We appreciate the constructive comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers. We thank Helena Shobe and Nicole Washburn for improvements in the English version of the manuscript, and Eugenia Lascano for helping with the figures edition. This work was supported by the Programa de Cooperación Científico-Tecnológica entre el Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica de Perú (CONCYTEC-FONDECYT CS-031-2014) y el Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva de Argentina (MINCYT PE/13/06).

New specimens of the genus Hapalotremus (Theraphosinae) are revised based on the examination of types and additional material collected in Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. A new generic diagnosis is proposed. New information and illustrations are provided for known species and seven new species were recognized and are newly described and illustrated. Hence, Hapalotremus comprises 10 valid species, distributed along the Andes and Yungas in western South America. All species are keyed and mapped. New taxonomic features are included in the descriptions and the detail of embolus keels morphology and positions are described for the first time for the genus. Information on species habitat is included. The highest altitude record for a Theraphosidae spider, living at 4524 m above sea level, is reported.

We describe and name a new species of poison-dart frog from the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Manu Province, Madre de Dios Department, Peru; specifically within the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve and the buffer zone of Manu National Park. Ameerega shihuemoy sp. nov. is supported by a unique combination of characters: black dorsum with cream to light orange dorsolateral lines, blue belly reticulated with black, and the lack of axillary, thigh and calf flash marks. Within Ameerega, it shares the general appearance of A. altamazonica, A. boliviana, A. hahneli, A. ignipedis, A. petersi, A. picta, A. pongoensis, A. pulchripecta, A. simulans, A. smaragdina, and A. yungicola; each possessing a granular black to brown dorsum, a light labial bar, a conspicuous dorsolateral line running from the snout to the groin, and a metallic blue belly and underside of arms and hind limbs. From most of these ...

We describe a new species of pitviper of the genus Bothrops from the Peruvian Pampas del Heath, in the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. Pampas del Heath is an area of seasonally flooded savannas and a northwestern extension of the Gran Chaco Boliviano-Paraguayo.

The effect of carboxymethylation and NH4I incorporation on the molecular dynamics of carrageenan films was studied. Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) assessed the presence of α and β relaxation processes. The effect of NH4I content was analyzed using the Havriliak-Negami model and parameterizing the temperature dependence of the relaxation times according to the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann-Hesse (VFTH) equation. The glass transition temperature was found to decrease with the increase of NH4I content. These results suggest that carboxymethylation and the salt doping treatment increase the molecular mobility of NH4+ ions, making the films suitable for the development of solid electrolytes for energy storage applications. © 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.