A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope — John Shaqi
A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus CopeLynch, John D.
Science
A Taxonomic Revision of the Leptodactylid Frog Genus Syrrhophus Cope
Lynch, John D.
Frogs; Syrrhophus
_Remarks._--I have applied Baird's _Batrachyla longipes_ to the frog
Taylor (1940d) called _Syrrhophus latodactylus_ because the color
pattern (Fig. 13) predominant in the southern part of the range agrees
with that described (figured) for _Batrachyla longipes_.
The color pattern of individuals in the southern part of the range of
this species consists of large spots or blotches, whereas in the
northwestern part the pattern is made up of smaller spots. In the
northeastern part of the range, the pattern is more reduced and tends to
consist of heavy flecking. The interorbital bar is narrower in specimens
from Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas and is triangular in specimens from
Hidalgo and Queretaro.
The status of the name _Batrachyla longipes_ is currently that of a
_nomen dubium_ (Lynch, 1963). At that time, I was unaware of the
geographic variation in color pattern in _Syrrhophus latodactylus_.
The exact type-locality of _Batrachyla longipes_ is not known. If it is
40 Leagues north of Mexico City, the locality would be in an area where
the species has a blotched instead of a flecked or spotted pattern. No
justifiable evidence was presented to place _Batrachyla longipes_ in
_Eleutherodactylus_ instead of _Syrrhophus_. Barbour (1923) and Kellogg
(1932) associated another species (_E. batrachylus_) with _longipes_.
Taylor (1940a) noted this as a case of misidentification and corrected
the error but left _longipes_ in the genus _Eleutherodactylus_. Lynch
(1963) noted several points of morphological agreement between
_Syrrhophus_ and _B. longipes_ but did not place _longipes_ in
_Syrrhophus_.
Baird's (1859) figures of the holotype do not illustrate prevomerine
teeth, but according to Cope (1866) they were present in the holotype.
The digital tips of the frog in the figure are somewhat narrower than
those typically seen in _S. latodactylus_. If the specimen was slightly
desiccated, as possibly was the case, the digits would appear narrower.
There is no evidence contrary to placing _Syrrhophus latodactylus_ in
the synonymy of _Batrachyla longipes_.
[Illustration: FIG. 13: Dorsal views of _Syrrhophus longipes_
illustrating geographic variation in pattern (left, TCWC 12179,
x1.5; right, KU 92572, x1.8); side of head (TCWC 10966, x6).]
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