Hylidae

Duellman, William E., Marion, Angela B. & Hedges, Blair, 2016, Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the treefrogs (Amphibia: Anura: Arboranae), Zootaxa 4104 (1), pp. 1-109 : 52-53

Hylidae : Lophyohylinae

Another clade of arboranans now designated Lophyohylinae originated (crown node) in the late Eocene, 37.2 (32.3–42.2) Mya. Based on present distributions, lophyohylines originated in the Amazon Basin and subsequently dispersed into eastern Brazil, the Guianan Region, and the West Indies. An early divergence (the crown node) led to the evolution of Phyllodytes in eastern Brazil and Phytotriades in Trinidad. A major split in the Lophyohylinae occurred in the late Eocene, 34.6 (30.8–38.4) Mya. The first clade contained ancestral Trachycephalus , which became widespread in the American tropics and differentiated into 14 species. The earliest divergence from the ancestral Trachycephalus was the differentiation of Itapotihyla in the latest Eocene, 33.2 (26.8–39.6) Mya; the single species inhabits the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Brazil. Itapotihyla is like some species of Trachycephalus in having a casque head. In what is now subhumid regions of northeastern Brazil, the casque-headed, bromeliaddwelling Corythomantis diverged from Trachycephalus in the Oligocene, 28.4 (22.6–34.2) Mya. Another clade of casque-headed species diverged (crown node) in the early Miocene, 20.0 (15.4–24.6) Mya; these included the ancestors of Aparasphenodon in the upper Orinoco Basin and coastal Brazil, Argenteohyla in northeastern Argentina, and Nyctimantis in the upper Amazon Basin.

The second major clade of lophyohylines split into two clades in the early Oligocene, 31.9 (28.2–35.5) Mya. One of these clades became Osteopilus (see below). The other divided into three modern genera, diverging 25–28 Mya. This led to Dryaderces (single species represented), with two species in the Amazon Basin and on the lower slopes of the adjacent Andes; Osteocephalus in the Miocene, 18.2 (15.5–20.9) Mya (crown node) with 23 species in the Amazon Basin, lower slopes of the Andes, and the Guianan Region; and Tepuihyla also in the Miocene, 16.5 (12.8–20.3) Mya (crown node) with seven species in the Guiana Highlands.