Lupacolus, Brown & Siler & Richards & Diesmos & Cannatella, 2015

Brown, Rafe M., Siler, Cameron D., Richards, Stephen J., Diesmos, Arvin C. & Cannatella, David C., 2015, Multilocus phylogeny and a new classification for Southeast Asian and Melanesian forest frogs (family Ceratobatrachidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Zool. J. Linn. Soc.) 174 (1), pp. 130-168 : 147

LUPACOLUS SUBGEN. NOV.

Type species

Cornufer dorsalis Duméril, 1853 .

Diagnosis

Philippine forest ground frogs of the subgenus Lupacolus are distinguished from other species of Platymantis (except a few species of subgenus Lahatnanguri , see below) by having (1) non- to minimally expanded terminal discs of fingers and toes [vs. finger and toe discs expanded in cloud frogs of the subgenus Tirahanulap , rain frogs of the genus Tahananpuno , and three species of variable forest frogs of the subgenus Lahatnanguri ( Pl. banahao , Pl. cornutus , and Pl. insulatus )]; (2) prominently rounded to pointed subarticular tubercles (vs. ventrally flattened in cloud frogs of the subgenus Tirahanulap ); (3) highly variable and often complex multisyllable advertisement calls [vs. tonal, constant frequency calls in cloud frogs of the subgenus Tirahanulap , or repeatedly pulsed calls in rain frogs of the subgenus Tahananpuno and a few species of variable Philippine forest frogs, subgenus Lahatnanguri ( Pl. banahao , Pl. cornutus , and Pl. insulatus )]; and (4) a predominantly terrestrial, forest-floor microhabitat preference, with a tendency to call from slightly elevated perches of 0.2–0.5 m [vs. perching in shrub and understory vegetation in cloud frogs, subgenus Tirahanulap , and rain frogs, subgenus Tahananpuno , and a few species of variable Philippine forest frogs, subgenus Lahatnanguri ( Pl. banahao , Pl. cornutus , and Pl. insulatus )]. We are unaware of any morphological synapomorphies for this group, but our phylogenetic analysis provides very strong support for this clade ( Fig. 2, Clade R).

Phylogenetic definition

Lupacolus (NCN) is a maximum crown-clade name referring to the crown clade ( Fig. 2, Clade R) originat- ing with the most recent common ancestor of Pl. dorsalis and all extant species that share a more recent common ancestor with Pl. dorsalis than with Pl. corrugatus , Pl. hazelae, Pl. guentheri , or Pl. levigatus .

Content

Platymantis cagayanensis , Pl. dorsalis , Pl. indeprensus , Pl. mimulus , Pl. naomiae , Pl. paengi , Pl. pseudodorsalis , Pl. spelaeus , and Pl. taylori ( Table 3).

Comment

For the most part, Lupacolus corresponds to the Pl. dorsalis group of W. Brown et al. (1997a, 1999a, b) and Alcala & Brown (1999). This clade of generalized terrestrial ground frogs contains a large percentage of currently unrecognized species (at least 15 small- to medium-sized ground frogs from the northern and central islands of the archipelago, including species 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22–25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, and 43; Fig. 2), but contrary to predictions from taxonomy ( Brown et al., 1997a; Alcala & Brown, 1999), does not include the Pl. corrugatus clade (Tagomukhus) or the morphologically similar terrestrial, species Pl. pygmaeus and Pl. levigatus (Lahatnanguri) ( Brown, Brown & Alcala, 1997a; Brown et al., 1997b, 1999a; Alcala & Brown, 1999).

Etymology

Lupacolus is derived from the combination of the Tagalog noun Lupa , meaning ‘ground’ or ‘terrestrial’ and the Greek colos, meaning ‘inhabitants’ or ‘dwellers’ in reference to the largely terrestrial microhabitat of the included species. It is masculine in gender. Suggested common name: Philippine forest ground frogs.