Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus SmiliscaDuellman, William Edward
Science
Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca
Duellman, William Edward
Amphibians -- Central America; Frogs; Smilisca
Because our knowledge of the skeleton in hylids is so incomplete, we are
not attempting to place _Smilisca_ in the general scheme of hylid
phylogeny on the basis of skeletal characters. Instead, our purposes are
to describe the skeleton and its ontogenetic development in one member
of the genus (_S. baudini_), and to make comparisons that show taxonomic
differences in osteological characters among species of _Smilisca_.
The study of 68 dried skeletons and 25 cleared and stained preparations,
including an ontogenetic series of _S. baudini_, has resulted in an
understanding of the progressive development of skeletal elements and a
knowledge of interspecific and intraspecific variation in these
elements. Furthermore, investigations of the osteology have provided
correlations between some cranial characters and certain aspects of
external morphology.
_Descriptive Osteology of Smilisca baudini_
The following description is based primarily on an adult female (KU
68184):
_Skull._--The skull is large, solid, and broader than long; the greatest
width is between the sutures of quadratojugal and maxillary on either
side of the skull (Pls. 2-3). The maxillaries bear well-developed dorsal
flanges, curve gently, join the moderately convex premaxillaries
anteriorly and form a slightly truncate snout. The combined premaxillary
width is about one-fourth the width of the skull. The premaxillaries are
separated medially, and laterally from the maxillaries by sutures. Each
premaxillary bears a dorsomedial alary process, which is anteriorly
convex and four times as high as the depth of the lateral wing of
premaxillary; each premaxillary also has a ventromedial palatine process
that projects dorsally from the lingual edge of the premaxillary. The
septomaxillaries are closely associated dorsally with the premaxillaries
immediately lateral to the prenasal processes.
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