Phyzelaphryninae

Padial, José M., Grant, Taran & Frost, Darrel R., 2014, Molecular systematics of terraranas (Anura: Brachycephaloidea) with an assessment of the effects of alignment and optimality criteria, Zootaxa 3825 (1), pp. 1-132 : 60

Phyzelaphryninae

This taxon includes the South American genera Adelophryne and Phyzelaphryne , and was found to be monophyletic previously ( Hedges et al., 2008a; Pyron & Wiens, 2011; Canedo & Haddad, 2012; Fouquet et al. 2012). Hoogmoed & Lescure (1984) erected the genus Adelophryne and considered it and Phyzelaphryne to be sister taxa based on the shared occurrence of slightly expanded terminal discs with incomplete circumferential grooves and pointed tips. Nevertheless, they considered that their new genus Adelophryne was distinguished from the monotypic Phyzelaphryne on the basis of its flattened digits, indistinct subarticular tubercles, long and slender tongue, and phalangeal reduction in the fourth finger. Hoogmoed and Lescure (1984) rejected a close relationship of Eleutherodactylini to other brachycephaloids with pointed digital tips, such as Barycholos , Phyllonastes (now Noblella ), and E. nigrovittatus (now Hypodactylus ), an observation corroborated by our results. Frost et al. (2006) suggested that phalangeal reduction in Adelophryne and Phyzelaphryne might support a relationship among these genera and genera now placed in Holoadeninae ( Euparkerella and Phyllonastes ) or to Brachycephalus , but they also considered the alternative hypothesis, mentioned above, that would ally these two genera with Diasporus .

Hedges et al. (2008a) did not address the monophyly of Adelophryne , only including Adelophryne patamona (mistakenly identified as A. adiastola fide Fouquet et al., 2012). Canedo & Haddad (2012) included two terminals, A. patamona (used previously by Hedges et al., 2008a) and A. baturitensis , recovering them as sister taxa. Fouquet et al. (2012) included sequences of six of the eight nominal species now referred to Adelophryne ( Frost, 2014) and an ample array of populations plus gene sequences from several populations of Phyzelaphryne . They used parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods to analyze a similarity-alignment of 5841 bp from four mitochondrial (12S, 16S, cytb, COI) and three nuclear (POMC, RAG1, TYR) loci. Their analyses corroborated the sister relationship between Adelophryne and Phyzelaphryne and revealed a number of likely new species.

As noted by Fouquet et al. (2012), the morphological distinction between Adelophryne and Phyzelaphryne was ambiguous from the beginning. In fact, specimens from Vaupes ( Colombia) used in the original description of Phyzelaphryne miriamae and the advertisement call ( Heyer, 1977) correspond to Adelophryne adiastola ( Hoogmoed & Lescure, 1984) , and Lynch (2005) identified as A. adiastola , specimens that corresponds to Phyzelaphryne ( Fouquet et al., 2012) . Nevertheless Fouquet et al. (2012) did not find Phyzelaphryne to be embedded within Adelophryne , and we follow them, reluctantly, in retaining it as a monotypic genus. Phyzelaphryne is endemic to central Amazonia, and Adelophryne only occupies the northern Amazonia, the Guianan region, and eastern Brazil.