A Review of the Middle American Tree Frogs of the Genus PtychohylaDuellman, William Edward
Science
A Review of the Middle American Tree Frogs of the Genus Ptychohyla
Duellman, William Edward
Amphibians -- Central America; Amphibians -- Mexico; Ptychohyla
_Ptychohyla euthysanota macrotympanum_ occurs sympatrically with
_Plectrohyla guatemalensis_ and _P. matudai matudai_. Each of the last
two has a bony prepollex, rather rugose skin on the dorsum, and more
squat body. Other sympatric species are _Hyla walkeri_, which has a
green dorsum with brown markings and a rather pointed snout, and _Hyla
sumichrasti_, a small yellow frog usually lacking vomerine teeth.
_Life History._--This species breeds in clear mountain streams in
mixed pine and broad-leafed forest. Males call from trees and bushes
along the streams. The breeding call consists of a soft "wraack,"
repeated three to nine times with intervals of 2.7 to 3.4 seconds
between notes. Each note has a duration of 0.60 to 0.65 second, and a
rate of 92 to 100 pulses per second; the dominant frequency falls
between 3000 and 3200 cycles per second (Pl. 11B). The call is
indistinguishable from that of _P. e. euthysanota_.
Tadpoles in various stages of development were found in the Rio Hondo,
Chiapas, on June 16, 1960. The smallest tadpole has a total length of
24.1 mm.; in this individual the sixth lower tooth row has barely
started to develop. A metamorphosing frog taken at the same time has a
snout-vent length of 19.8 mm., a short remnant of the tail, and the
mouth and tongue developed, whereas another individual having a
snout-vent length of 17.8 mm. and a tail 31.0 mm. in length still has
larval teeth. Three completely metamorphosed juveniles collected by L.
C. Stuart at Jacaltenango, Guatemala, on June 6 and 7, 1955, have
snout-vent lengths of 16.0, 16.0, and 16.1 mm.
_Remarks._--Tanner (1957:52) based the description of _Hyla
macrotympanum_ on a single female, which, of course, lacked the
characters diagnostic of _Ptychohyla_. On the basis of general
external characters Tanner suggested that _Hyla macrotympanum_ was
related to _H. miotympanum_, from which it differed in having a larger
tympanum and a bifid subarticular tubercle beneath the fourth finger.
The collection of additional females, together with males of the
species, has shown that _Hyla macrotympanum_ is a _Ptychohyla_.
Intergradation between _Ptychohyla euthysanota_ and _P. macrotympanum_
has not been demonstrated. Currently their ranges are separated by the
dry valleys of the Rio Grijalva and Rio Cuilco. The similarity in
structure of the adults and tadpoles and the indistinguishable
breeding calls are the basis for considering the two populations
subspecies.
_Distribution._--This species occurs in mixed pine and broad-leafed
forests at elevations of 700 to 1700 meters on the southern slopes of
the Chiapan Highlands and Sierra de Cuchumatanes, in Guatemala. These
forests are on the south facing slopes north of the valleys of the Rio
Grijalva and Rio Cuilco.
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