Pristimantis

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Pristimantis
Pristimantis elegans Chingaza.jpg
P. elegans , Colombia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Strabomantidae
Subfamily: Pristimantinae
Genus: Pristimantis
Jiménez de la Espada, 1870 [1] [2]
Type species
Pristimantis galdi
Jiménez de la Espada, 1870 [1] [2]
Diversity
About 620 species, see list

Pristimantis is a very speciose genus of frogs distributed in the southern Caribbean islands (Lesser Antilles) and in Central and South America from Honduras to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. [2] With 626 described species (as of February 2026), [2] the genus has more species than any other vertebrate genus. [3] [4] Many of these species are endemic to the Northwestern Andean montane forests ecoregion in north-western South America. [5]

Contents

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the Greek πρίστις (serrated) and μάντις (arboreal frog). [1]

Taxonomy

Placement of this genus has varied greatly. Pristimantis was long included in the massive genus Eleutherodactylus , and considered part of the family Leptodactylidae. Currently, the genus is placed in the family Strabomantidae [4] [6] or Craugastoridae. [2]

Species

Pristimantis orcesi, Pristimantis erythros, Pristimantis pycnodermis and Pristimantis loujosti Comparison of Pristimantis erythros with another species.jpg
Pristimantis orcesi , Pristimantis erythros , Pristimantis pycnodermis and Pristimantis loujosti

As of February 2026, 626 Pristimantis species are recognised. New ones continue to be described on a regular basis – including 10 new species in 2025. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jiménez de la Espada, M. (1870). "Fauna neotropicalis species quaedam nondum cognitae". Jornal de Sciências, Mathemáticas, Physicas e Naturaes. 3: 57–65.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frost, Darrel R. (2026). "Pristimantis Jiménez de la Espada, 1870". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.2. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001 . Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  3. ↑ Acevedo, Aldemar A.; Palma, R. Eduardo; Olalla-Tárraga, Miguel Ángel (2022). "Ecological and evolutionary trends of body size in Pristimantis frogs, the world's most diverse vertebrate genus". Scientific Reports. 12 (1) 18106. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-22181-5.
  4. 1 2 "Strabomantidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2026. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  5. ↑ C. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2012. Northwestern Andean montane forests. ed. P. Saundry. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
  6. ↑ Blackburn, D.C.; Wake, D.B. (2011). "Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 39–55. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.8.
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