Hyla faber Wied, 1821

Vanzolini, Paulo E. & Myers, Charles W., 2015, The Herpetological Collection Of Maximilian, Prince Of Wied (1782 - 1867), With Special Reference To Brazilian Materials, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2015 (395), pp. 1-155 : 70

Hyla faber Wied, 1821

Plate 49

1820 Reise 1: 173.

1821 Reise 2: 241, 248–249 (description).

1824 Isis : 670 (diagnosis).

1824 Abbildungen: Lief. 7 ( figs. 1–2 of composite pl.).

1825 Beitra¨ge: 519, 603.

PRESENT STATUS: Hyla faber Wied, 1821 .

REMARKS: Prince Maximilian was impressed by the voice of the ‘‘blacksmith’’ frog, mentioning in the Beitra¨ge that he was impatient to become acquainted with the frog itself, and had his Brazilian workers collect some with the aid of burning torches. For the species name, he chose the Latin noun faber —meaning an artisan or workman. The reason for the name was laid down in the first volume of his ‘‘Travels’’ (Reise 1: 173):

Not far from the fazenda [de Aga´], a high rounded, isolated mountain named Morro de Aga´ rises from the nearby forest...I found near the buildings a small swamp, where I first heard with astonishment the distinctive voice of a frog previously unknown to me. It sounded exactly like a tin- or coppersmith working with his hammer, only the sound altogether was deeper or fuller. I later became better acquainted with the animal, which the Portuguese call the Smith (Ferreiro) because of its voice.

Wied mentioned the Ferreiro at Rio de Contas in the second volume (Reise 2: 241). The formal description of Hyla faber came a few pages later in a footnote in Reise 2, in a discussion of fauna at ‘‘Fazenda von S. Agnés’’ (5 Santa Ineˆs), which Mu¨ ller (1927: 265) and Bokermann (1966a: 50) appropriately considered as type locality.

The type locality of Hyla faber was shared with the smaller Hyla aurata (see below), which was named on the same page. Wied made field paintings of both species on the same leaf of paper, as shown in Bosch (1991: 270–271, item 107 35). Because H. aurata was found only at S. Agne´s (Santa Ineˆs), the joined field paintings seem to confirm the locality of the painted specimen of H. faber (see pl. 49). He confirmed in the Abbildungen text account that H. faber was found in the company of H. aurata in pools at S. Agne´s. He summarized his observations on distribution in the Beitra¨ge, based more on the distinctive call of H. faber than on collections.

There are no specimens in the collection and Hyla faber is not listed in Wied’s 1860 manuscript catalog, indicating that his specimens had disappeared before the catalog was written.

Figures

Fig. 1. Paulo E. Vanzolini. On Serra Tapeque´m (a tepui remnant), Roraima, NE Brazil (July 14,

Fig. 2. Pen-and-watercolor sketches dated 1815 and attributed to Prince Maximilian. Top: Gesamtansicht der Expedition (‘‘General View of the expedition’’), showing pack mules, handlers, and military guard. Bottom: Prinz Maximilian mit Teilnehmern seiner Expedition (‘‘Prince Max with members of his expedition’’). From Bosch, 1991: 84–85. (Courtesy of Brazilian Library of Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart)