A Review of the Frogs of the Hyla bistincta Group — John Shaqi
A Review of the Frogs of the Hyla bistincta GroupDuellman, William Edward
Science
A Review of the Frogs of the Hyla bistincta Group
Duellman, William Edward
Amphibians -- Central America; Hyla
_Remarks._--Shannon (1951:470) named _Hyla bistincta labeculata_ on
the basis of a single male from San Lucas Camotlán, Oaxaca; he
diagnosed the subspecies as differing from _Hyla bistincta bistincta_
by having "the gray reticulation of the sides entirely broken up into
elongate black blotches; tarsal fold moderately elevated." The
condition of the tarsal fold is characteristic of the species. The
dispersion of dark pigment on the flanks is variable. The type of
_Hyla bistincta labeculata_ (USNM 123689) is extreme in the
development of dark dashes on the flanks, but this condition is
approached in several specimes from Oaxaca and Veracruz. For example,
in some specimens from Cumbres de Acultzingo, Veracruz, the mottling
on the flanks is bold; in others the flanks are reticulated. The
specimen from San Vicente, Oaxaca, has black dashes on the flanks
(Smith and Williams, 1963:23), whereas a specimen from Cerro San
Felipe, Oaxaca, has no pattern on the flanks. In general, specimens
from western México have reticulate mottling on the flanks as compared
with the marbling on the flanks in specimens from eastern México. On
the basis of available data, the recognition of subspecies in _Hyla
bistincta_ is unwarranted.
The tadpoles of this species described by Duellman (1961:47) are like
those of _Hyla robertsorum_ in having 2/3 tooth-rows, peglike
serrations on the beaks, and long, rounded tails. At Uruapan tadpoles
were found in a rocky stream on April 24, 1956, and metamorphosing
young were found there on August 2, 1956. A completely metamorphosed
juvenile has a snout-vent length of 24.8 mm.
_Hyla bistincta_ is found only along streams, where individuals can be
seen clinging to vines and other vegetation closely over-hanging
fast-moving parts of the stream.
_Distribution._--_Hyla bistincta_ occurs at elevations from 1400 to
2600 meters in the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in western
Jalisco southward through the Cordillera Volcánica in Michoacán,
México, and Morelos, the Sierra de Coalcomán in Michoacán, and the
Sierra Madre del Sur in Guerrero and Oaxaca, and thence northward in
the Sierra Madre Oriental to central Veracruz (Fig. 2).
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