Osteocephalus helenae

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Osteocephalus helenae
Osteocephalus germani - ZooKeys-229-001-g015.xcf
Adult female
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Hylidae
Genus: Osteocephalus
Species:
O. helenae
Binomial name
Osteocephalus helenae
(Ruthven, 1919)
Synonyms [2]
  • Hyla helenaeRuthven, 1919 [3]
  • Osteocephalus germaniRon, Venegas, Toral, Read, Ortiz, and Manzano, 2012 [4]

Osteocephalus helenae is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is widely distributed in the Amazon Basin and is known from the lowlands of Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and French Guiana. [2] The specific name helenae honors Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige, [3] an American herpetologist. [5] Common name Helena's[ sic ]treefrog has been proposed for it. [2] [5]

Contents

Taxonomy

Osteocephalus helenae was described in 1919 by Alexander Grant Ruthven as Hyla helenae based on three recently metamorphosed specimens. [3] The relationships of this species were unclear and it was considered incertae sedis within Hyla , until Jungfer  [ fr ] and colleagues concluded in 2013 that Ruthven's Hyla helenae is the same species as Osteocephalus germani [6] described by Ron and colleagues in 2012 [4] and that the correct name for this taxon is Osteocephalus helenae. [6]

Description

Based on the type series of Osteocephalus germani, adult males measure about 41 mm (1.6 in) and adult females about 49–51 mm (1.9–2.0 in) in snout–vent length. The snout is truncate but may sometimes be rounded in females. The tympanum is visible but partly concealed dorsally. The fingers and the toes bear large discs and are webbed, the toes more heavily so. Dorsal skin bears tubercles in males but is smooth in females. Coloration is variable, ranging dorsally from brown with dark brown marks to light gray with dark brown marks; the ventrum is light cream and may have dark brown flecks. There is a cream-colored suborbital mark. Males have a paired vocal sac. [4]

Variation in dorsal and ventral coloration of preserved specimens Adult Osteocephalus germani showing variation in dorsal and ventral coloration of preserved specimens - ZooKeys-229-001-g014.xcf
Variation in dorsal and ventral coloration of preserved specimens

Habitat

The region of the type locality of Osteocephalus helenae is lowland tropical rainforest. [1] In Peru, this species (as Osteocephalus germani) has been collected from primary and secondary lowland forests and from premontane forest at elevations up to 725 m (2,379 ft). All specimens were encountered by temporary pools, perching over broad leaves or on tree branches 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) above the ground. [4]

Conservation status

The assessment of Osteocephalus helenae for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2004 [1] predates the current delimitation of this species. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Osteocephalus is a genus of frogs, the slender-legged tree frogs, in the family Hylidae found in the Guianas, the Amazon Basin, Venezuela, Colombia, southeastern Brazil, and north-eastern Argentina. Males are warty, while females are smooth.

Charadrahyla nephila is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is endemic to Mexico and occurs in the Sierra de Juárez and Sierra Mixe in the northern Oaxacan highlands; there is also a questionable record from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz. Prior to its description, it was mixed with Hyla chaneque. The specific name nephila is derived from Greek nephos ("cloud") and philia ("fondness"), referring to the cloud forest habitat of this species. Common name Oaxacan cloud-forest treefrog has been coined for it.

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<i>Dendropsophus joannae</i> Species of amphibian

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<i>Dryaderces inframaculata</i> Species of amphibian

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troschel's tree frog</span> Species of amphibian

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<i>Osteocephalus buckleyi</i> Species of amphibian

Osteocephalus buckleyi, also known as Buckley's slender-legged treefrog, is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is found along the periphery of the Amazon Basin in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, northeastern Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, and also in the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela. It is probably a species complex. Some sources treat Osteocephalus vilmae from Ecuador and Peru as a valid species.

<i>Osteocephalus cabrerai</i> Species of frog

Osteocephalus cabrerai is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is found in the Amazon Basin in Brazil (Manaus), northeastern Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, and French Guiana, possibly wider. Some earlier records refer to Osteocephalus buckleyi.

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Osteocephalus fuscifacies is a species of frog in the family Hylidae endemic to Ecuador. It is known from the Napo River drainage at intermediate elevations. The specific name fuscifacies is derived from Latin fuscus (=tan) and facies (=face), in reference to the uniform tan-colored loreal region and the lack of a light subocular spot. Common name Napo slender-legged treefrog has been coined for this species.

Dryaderces pearsoni is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. Broadly defined, it is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. However, the nominal taxon includes two species, and true Dryaderces pearsoni is only known with certainty from Bolivia. The specific name pearsoni honors Nathan E. Pearson, an American ichthyologist who made a "splendid collection of amphibians" during an expedition to Bolivia, including the holotype of this species. Common name Pearson's slender-legged treefrog has been coined for the species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manaus slender-legged tree frog</span> Species of amphibian

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<i>Scinax cruentomma</i> Species of frog

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<i>Scinax ruber</i> Species of amphibian

Scinax ruber is a species of frog in the family Hylidae which is known in English as the red snouted treefrog or red-snouted treefrog, sometimes also Allen's snouted treefrog, the latter referring to the now-synonymized Scinax alleni. This widespread species is found in much of Amazonian and northern coastal South America and into Panama, as well as in some Caribbean islands as introduced populations. It is a complex containing several cryptic species.

<i>Stefania evansi</i> Species of frog

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<i>Dryaderces</i> Genus of amphibians

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Robert Reynolds, Marinus Hoogmoed, Ross MacCulloch, Philippe Gaucher (2004). "Osteocephalus helenae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2004: e.T55503A11318891. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T55503A11318891.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Frost, Darrel R. (2020). "Osteocephalus helenae (Ruthven, 1919)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Ruthven, Alexander G. (1919). "The amphibians of the University of Michigan-Walker expedition to British Guiana". Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. 69: 1–14. hdl:2027.42/56508.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Ron, Santiago; Venegas, Pablo J.; Toral, Eduardo; Read, V. Morley; Ortiz, Diego & Manzano, Andrea (2012). "Systematics of the Osteocephalus buckleyi species complex (Anura, Hylidae) from Ecuador and Peru". ZooKeys (229): 1–52. Bibcode:2012ZooK..229....1R. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.229.3580 . PMC   3494004 . PMID   23166473.
  5. 1 2 Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic Publishing. pp. 77, 92. ISBN   978-1-907807-42-8.
  6. 1 2 Jungfer, Karl-Heinz; Faivovich, Julián; Padial, José M.; Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago; Lyra, Mariana M.; Berneck, Bianca V. M.; Iglesias, Patricia P.; Kok, Philippe J. R.; MacCulloch, Ross D.; Rodrigues, Miguel T.; Verdade, Vanessa K.; Torres Gastello, Claudia P.; Chaparro, Juan Carlos; Valdujo, Paula H.; Reichle, Steffen; Moravec, Jiří; Gvoždík, Václav; Gagliardi-Urrutia, Giussepe; Ernst, Raffael; De la Riva, Ignacio; Means, Donald Bruce; Lima, Albertina P.; Señaris, J. Celsa; Wheeler, Ward C. & Haddad, Célio F. B. (2013). "Systematics of spiny-backed treefrogs (Hylidae: Osteocephalus): an Amazonian puzzle". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (4): 351–380. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.720.3338 . doi:10.1111/zsc.12015. S2CID   84789142.