Pseudis
Encyclopedia
Pseudis is a genus of frog
s in the Hylidae family, and are found in the Guianas
, Colombia
, Venezuela
, Trinidad
, southern Brazil
, Paraguay
, southeastern Peru
, eastern Bolivia
, northeastern Argentina
and Uruguay
.
Pseudis is a genus of aquatic frogs distributed throughout tropical and subtropical South America
; almost entirely east of the Andes
(P. paradoxa is the only species with population west of the Andes). They are commonly found in ponds associated to river floodplains, from Trinidad to northern Argentina, being absent only in Ecuador and Chile, highland regions and the southernmost part of South America. Most species occur in Brazil, and P. fusca, P. tocantins, P. cardosoi, P. caraya, and P. bolbodactyla are endemic to this country.
These frogs have several adaptations to aquatic life, such as protuberant eyes, robust hindlimbs, and fully webbed feet. Nevertheless, they are more closely related to tree frogs.
These frogs are commonly known because of their giant tadpole that can reach up to 26 centimetres (10.2 in). They are closely related to a second genus, Lysapsus
, that lacks giant tadpoles and which adults are about 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in). Lysapsus is now considered a synonym
of Pseudis by many researchers.
(Noble 1922) , Hylidae (Parker 1935), and as their own family Pseudidae (Savage and De Carvalho, 1953). This results from their highly derived body plan for a hylid frog due to their mostly aquatic habits. Recent morphological (Da Silva, 1998) and molecular (Darst and Cannatella, 2004) phylogenetic reconstructions have unambiguously placed them within the subfamily Hylinae with Scarthyla as a sister group.
Phylogenetic relationships among species of the group were recently proposed using molecular evidences (Garda and Cannatella, 2007; Aguiar-Jr. et al., 2007). Both publications found identical trees, but proposed different taxonomic solutions for the non-monophyly
of Pseudis, either resurrecting the genus Podonectes (Garda and Cannatella, 2007) or placing Lysapsus as a junior synonym of Pseudis (Aguiar-Jr. et al., 2007). Because of taxonomic nomenclatural issues, Podonectes is not an available name and the solution proposed by Aguiar-Jr. et al. (2007) is preferred (see Frost, 2007, Amphibian Species of the World online database).
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s in the Hylidae family, and are found in the Guianas
The Guianas
The Guyanas or the Guianas refers to a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories:* French Guiana, an overseas department of France;...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, southern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, southeastern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, eastern Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, northeastern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
.
Pseudis is a genus of aquatic frogs distributed throughout tropical and subtropical South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
; almost entirely east of the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
(P. paradoxa is the only species with population west of the Andes). They are commonly found in ponds associated to river floodplains, from Trinidad to northern Argentina, being absent only in Ecuador and Chile, highland regions and the southernmost part of South America. Most species occur in Brazil, and P. fusca, P. tocantins, P. cardosoi, P. caraya, and P. bolbodactyla are endemic to this country.
These frogs have several adaptations to aquatic life, such as protuberant eyes, robust hindlimbs, and fully webbed feet. Nevertheless, they are more closely related to tree frogs.
These frogs are commonly known because of their giant tadpole that can reach up to 26 centimetres (10.2 in). They are closely related to a second genus, Lysapsus
Lysapsus
Harlequin Frogs is a genus of frogs in the Hylidae family, and are found in South America east of the Andes.-Species:* Lysapsus caraya Gallardo, 1964.* Lysapsus laevis Parker, 1935.* Lysapsus limellum Cope, 1862....
, that lacks giant tadpoles and which adults are about 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in). Lysapsus is now considered a synonym
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
of Pseudis by many researchers.
Species
| Binomial name and Author | Pseudis bolbodactyla Pseudis bolbodactyla Pseudis bolbodactyla is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes,... |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pseudis boliviana | |||
| Pseudis caraya | Mato Verde Harlequin Frog | ||
| Pseudis cardosoi Pseudis cardosoi Pseudis cardosoi is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, pastureland, and ponds.... |
|||
| Pseudis fusca Pseudis fusca Pseudis fusca is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, pastureland, water storage areas, and ponds.It is threatened by habitat... |
|||
| Pseudis laevis | Guyana Harlequin Frog | ||
| Pseudis limellum | Uruguay Harlequin Frog | ||
| Pseudis minuta | Lesser Swimming Frog | ||
| Pseudis paradoxa Pseudis paradoxa Pseudis paradoxa, known as the paradoxical frog or shrinking frog, is a species of hylid frog from South America. Its name refers to the very large—up to long—tadpole , which in turn becomes an ordinary-sized frog, only about a quarter of its former length.Pseudis paradoxa is green... |
Paradoxical Frog | ||
| Pseudis platensis | |||
| Pseudis tocantins Pseudis tocantins Pseudis tocantins is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to Brazil.Its natural habitats are moist savanna, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, swamps, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and ponds.... |
|||
Phylogenetic relationships
The phylogenetic position of frogs currently included in the genus Pseudis in relation to other anurans was for a long time a mater of debate. They have been placed in Ranidae, LeptodactylidaeLeptodactylidae
Leptodactylidae is a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic. There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species...
(Noble 1922) , Hylidae (Parker 1935), and as their own family Pseudidae (Savage and De Carvalho, 1953). This results from their highly derived body plan for a hylid frog due to their mostly aquatic habits. Recent morphological (Da Silva, 1998) and molecular (Darst and Cannatella, 2004) phylogenetic reconstructions have unambiguously placed them within the subfamily Hylinae with Scarthyla as a sister group.
Phylogenetic relationships among species of the group were recently proposed using molecular evidences (Garda and Cannatella, 2007; Aguiar-Jr. et al., 2007). Both publications found identical trees, but proposed different taxonomic solutions for the non-monophyly
Monophyly
In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...
of Pseudis, either resurrecting the genus Podonectes (Garda and Cannatella, 2007) or placing Lysapsus as a junior synonym of Pseudis (Aguiar-Jr. et al., 2007). Because of taxonomic nomenclatural issues, Podonectes is not an available name and the solution proposed by Aguiar-Jr. et al. (2007) is preferred (see Frost, 2007, Amphibian Species of the World online database).
Bibliographic references
- AGUIAR-JR., O., M. BACCI JR, A. P. LIMA, D. C. ROSSA-FERES, C. F. B. HADDAD, and S. M. RECCO-PIMENTEL. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships of Pseudis and Lysapsus (Anura, Hylidae, Hylinae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. Cladistics. 23:455-463.
- DA SILVA, H. R. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of the family Hylidae with emphasis on the relationships within the subfamily Hylinae (Amphibia: Anura). In: Department of Systematics and Ecology. University of Kansas.
- DARST, C. R., and D. C. CANNATELLA. 2004. Novel relationships among hyloid frogs inferred from 12S and 16S mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31:462-475.
- GARDA, A. A., and D. C. CANNATELLA. 2007. Phylogeny and biogeography of paradoxical frogs (Anura, Hylidae, Pseudae) inferred from 12S and 16S mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 44:104-114.
- NOBLE, G. K. 1922. The phylogeny of Salientia. I. The osteology and thigh musculature; their bearing on classification and phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 46:1-87.
- PARKER, H. W. 1935. The frogs, lizards, and snakes of British Guiana. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 505-530.
- SAVAGE, J. M., and A. L. DE CARVALHO. 1953. The family position of neotropical frogs currently referred to the genus Pseudis. Zoologica. 38:193-200.