Phrynomedusa

Phrynomedusa is a genus of tree frogs from Brazil. They live in the Southeast and South parts of Brazil. Scientists used to think these frogs were part of the genus Phyllomedusa, and thy called them the "Phyllomedusa fimbriata group."[1][2] They are called colored leaf frogs[1] and monkey frogs in English.[2]

Phrynomedusa
Phrynomedusa marginata.jpg
Phrynomedusa marginata
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Phyllomedusidae
Genus: Phrynomedusa
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923
Type species
Phrynomedusa fimbriata
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923
Species

6 species (see text)

Ecology and conservation

Phrynomedusa frogs live in mountain streams and nearby ponds in the Atlantic Forest. The female frogs lay their egg clutches in cracks in the rocks above the water; the tadpoles grow in the water.[2]

Phrynomedusa are rare and humans do not know much about them. Except for P. appendiculata and P. marginata, scientists have only seen a few individual frogs from each species. Conservationists are sure that two species live in protected areas, but they do not know about the other frogs.[2]

Description

Phrynomedusa are small tree frogs: adult males are 26–47 mm (1.0–1.9 in) from nose to rear end, and females 28–45 mm (1.1–1.8 in). The iris has two colors: a horizontal dark stripe in middle of the eye with dark yellow in the upper and lower surfaces. The back of this frog is smooth. There is only a little webbing on its front and back feet. They do not have flash colors on their sides, thighs, or othe rbody parts, like other phyllomedusid frogs do. Males frogs have vocal sacs and vocal slits.[2]

Species

There are six species, and one of them is probably extinct:[1][2][3]

Binomial name and author Common name
Phrynomedusa appendiculata (Lutz, 1925) Santa Catarina leaf frog
Phrynomedusa bokermanni (Cruz, 1991) Bokermann's leaf frog
Phrynomedusa dryade (Baêta, Giasson, Pombal, and Haddad, 2016)
Phrynomedusa fimbriata (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923) Spiny-knee leaf frog
Phrynomedusa marginata (Izecksohn & Cruz, 1976) Bicolored leaf frog
Phrynomedusa vanzolinii (Cruz, 1991) Vanzolini's leaf frog

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Frost, Darrel R. (2017). "Phrynomedusa Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Baêta, Délio; Giasson, Luís Olímpio Menta; Pombal, José P.; Haddad, Célio Fernando Baptista (16 November 2016). "Review of the rare genus Phrynomedusa Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923 (Anura: Phyllomedusidae) with description of a new species". Herpetological Monographs. 30 (1): 49–78. doi:10.1655/HERPMONOGRAPHS-D-15-00009.1. S2CID 52238516.
  3. "Hylidae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.