Leptodactylus latrans ( Steffen, 1815 )

Lavilla, Esteban O., Langone, Jose A. & Caramaschi, Ulisses, 2010, The identification of Rana ocellata Linnaeus, 1758. Nomenclatural impact on the species currently known as Leptodactylus ocellatus (Leptodactylidae) and Osteopilus brunneus (Gosse, 1851) (Hylidae), Zootaxa 2346, pp. 1-16 : 8-9

Leptodactylus latrans ( Steffen, 1815) , revalidated, new combination

( Figures 2–3 )

Rana latrans Steffen, 1815 .

Neotype: MNRJ 30733, adult male ( Figure 2 ), collected at Vale dos Agriões (22o25’S, 42o58’W, approx. 900 m above sea level), Municipality of Teresópolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 18 September 1999, by U. Caramaschi, H. de Niemeyer, and D. F. de Moraes Jr. mtDNA sequence data GenBank accession number AY669856 .

Description of the neotype: Adult male, with strongly hypertrophied arms. Robust build; head wider than long, HL 88.8% of HW, HL 34.9% of SVL, HW 39.3% of SVL. Snout rounded viewed from above ( Fig. 3 A), obtuse in profile ( Fig. 3 B); canthus rostralis indistinct, rounded; loreal region oblique, slightly concave. Nostrils closer to tip of snout than to eyes; internarial distance smaller than eye to nostril distance and eye diameter. Eye to nostril distance larger than eye diameter, upper eyelid width, interorbital distance, and tympanum diameter. Upper eyelid width equals the interorbital distance and the internarial distance, and smaller than tympanum diameter. Tympanum circular, annulus distinct, thick; tympanum largely separated from eye, its diameter slightly smaller than eye diameter, TD 97.7% of ED. Upper eyelid, head, and dorsal skin smooth; a thick supratympanic fold from the posterior corner of eye, arching downwards posteriorly to tympanum, and reaching the dorsal region of the arm articulation; a thick, longitudinally elongated bucal post–commissural fold; eight dorsolateral folds disposed four on each side of the body, consisting of one dorsal from the posterior interocular region to the urostyle region, one dorsolateral from the posterior corner of eye to groin, and two lateral, one above, relatively short, from the shoulder region to groin, and one below, from the posterior corner of eye to groin; small tubercles, approximately aligned, between the posterior half of the dorsal folds; flanks barely rugose; ventral skin smooth; a small granular seat patch under thighs; anal region not modified; dorsal and ventral surfaces of arms smooth; a weak, crenulated crest along the posterior line of the ventral surface of forearm; dorsal surface of thighs and tibiae with many small, approximately aligned, horny tubercles. Vocal sac poorly developed, subgular, unique but slightly bilobed; no lateral vocal folds. Vocal slits present; vomerine teeth in two transverse series almost contacting medially, laying between and just posterior to choanae. Tongue large, free, slightly notched behind. Hand ( Fig. 3 C) with fingers slender, not webbed, tips rounded, not expanded; weak lateral ridges present; finger lengths V <III <II <IV; subarticular tubercles rounded, proximal tubercles more developed than distal ones; few rounded supranumerary tubercles present; outer metacarpal tubercle large, cordiform; inner metacarpal tubercle small, rounded; a large, rounded, keratinized black spine on thumb, lateral to the second subarticular tubercle; a large, rounded, keratinized spine on the strongly developed prepollex. Legs robust, tibia length slightly smaller than thigh length, tibia length 97.3% of thigh length; SVL 99.2% of the sum of tibia and thigh lengths. Foot large ( Fig. 3 D), foot length larger than tibia and thigh lengths, 77.9% of SVL. Toes slender, only basally webbed, fringed; toe lengths I <II <V <III <IV; toe tips slightly pointed; subarticular tubercles large, rounded; sole of foot with distinct, approximately aligned small tubercles; outer metatarsal tubercle very small, rounded; inner metatarsal tubercle large, elliptical, slightly elevated; sole of tarsus with many scattered small tubercles; inner tarsal fold developed, approximately the length of the tarsus.

Measurements of the neotype: SVL 107.0; HL 37.4; HW 42.1; IND 7.4; END 12.0; ED 8.7; UEW 7.4; IOD 7.4; TD 8.5; HAL 26.5; THL 54.7; TL 53.2; FL 83.4.

Color: In preservative, general dorsal background color reddish gray; a distinct interocular black spot with two posterior lobes; scattered, rounded black spots on dorsum; a black spot on posterior side of arms; black spots, aligned across the dorsal surfaces of thighs, tibiae, and feet. A black stripe on canthus rostralis, between the nostril and the anterior corner of eye; loreal region uniformly gray, bordered below by small black, approximately triangular spots; border of maxilla gray with light gray spots. Ventral region white with scattered, unshaped small clear gray spots; gular region gray.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Leptodactylus latrans (Steffen, 1815), neotype (MNRJ 30733; 107.0 mm SVL), dorsal and ventral views.

FIGURE 3. Leptodactylus latrans (Steffen, 1815), neotype (MNRJ 30733). A: Dorsal view of head. B: Lateral view of head. C: Hand. D: Foot. Bars = 5 mm.