Bromeliohyla

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 : 19

Bromeliohyla , Duellmanohyla , and Ptychohyla

One clade contains one species of Bromeliohyla and seven species of Ptychohyla . Bromeliohyla bromeliacia (Taylor) is the well-supported sister of the clade of Ptychohyla salvadorensis (Mertens) plus three species of Duellmanohyla . Moreover, Ptychohyla spinipollex Schmidt is sister to that clade of five species. Although not notably different as adults, except in coloration ( Fig. 6 ), egg deposition sites and tadpoles of the species in these three genera are distinctly different ( Campbell & Smith 1992; Duellman 2001). Bromeliohyla is an inhabitant of arboreal bromeliads where eggs are deposited in water in the axils of the leaves, and tadpoles have small ventral oral discs with a LTRF of 2/3–2/5, long tooth rows, a depressed body, massive caudal musculature, and shallow fins. Duellmanohyla breeds in streams, where tadpoles develop in quiet pools and have a large, pendant oral discs with a LTRF of 2/2 or 2/3, short tooth rows, a rounded body, well-developed caudal musculature, and fins nearly as high as the caudal musculature at midlength of the tail. Ptychohyla also breeds in streams, where tadpoles develop in riffles and have large ventral oral discs with a LTRF of 3/6–6/9, long tooth rows, a rounded body, well-developed caudal musculature, and fins nearly as high as the caudal musculature at midlength of the tail. The tadpole of Ptychohyla salvadorensis has a large ventral mouth with 2/3–2/5, entirely unlike tadpoles of Duellmanohyla ( McCranie and Wilson 2002) .

Low nodal support values in the clade containing Bromeliohyla , Duellmanohyla , and Ptychohyla salvadorensis , indicate that the existing molecular data are unable to resolve their relationships. Although the deep nesting of P. salvadorensis in this clade suggests that Ptychohyla is paraphyletic, more molecular data are needed to corroborate this. Therefore, we retain this species in the genus Ptychohyla .

Figures

FIGURE 6. A. Bromeliohyla bromeliacia, KU 57249, Finca Chicoyou, 980 m, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. B. Duellmanohyla uranochroa, KU 101727, North slope Cerro Pando, 1450 m, Bocas del Toro, Panama. C. Ptychohyla hypomykter, KU 58053, Finca Los Alpes, 1000 m, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. D. Ptychohyla salvadorensis, KU 103256, West slope Cerro Uyuca, 1650 m, Francisco-Morazán, Honduras. All by W. E. Duellman.