Sarcohyla new genus

Sarcohyla . Type species: Cauphias crassus Brocchi, 1877:130 .

Definition. Moderate to large frogs having thick, glandular skin and enlarged prepollex without a projecting spine (Figs. 5A and B), and the alary process of the premaxilla not bifurcate posteriorly.

Content. Twenty-four species: Sarcohyla ameibothalame (Canseco-Márquez, Mendelson, and Gutiérrez- Mayén), arborescandens (Taylor), bistincta (Cope), calthula (Ustach, Mendelson, McDiarmid, and Campbell), calvicollina* (Toal), celata* (Toal and Mendelson), cembra* (Caldwell), charadricola* (Duellman), chryses* (Adler), crassa * (Brocchi), cyanomma* (Caldwell), cyclada (Campbell and Duellman), ephemera* (Meik, Canseco-Márquez, Smith, and Campbell), hazelae* (Taylor), labedactyla* (Mendelson and Toal), miahuatlanensis* (Meik, Canseco-Márquez, Smith, and Campbell), mykter* (Adler), pachyderma* (Taylor), pentheter (Adler), psarosema* (Campbell and Duellman), robertsorum* (Taylor), sabrina* (Caldwell), siopela (Duellman), and thorectes * (Adler); all names are new combinations.

Distribution. Highlands of Mexico west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec northward to Durango and San Luis Potosí.

Etymology. The generic name is derived from the Greek sarkodes meaning fleshy in combination with Hylas of Greek mythology. The name refers to the thick, glandular skin characteristic of most of the species in the genus. The gender is feminine.

Remarks. For the most part this genus is the Hyla bistincta and Hyla arborescandens groups of Duellman (2001). The phylogenetic tree by Faivovich et al. (2005) included only five species in the Hyla bistincta Group, which they showed as the sister clade to Plectrohyla . Faivovich et al. (2005:104) stated: “Technically our results are certainly compatible with the recognition of a separate genus for the members of the H. bistincta group and the few species from other groups associated with them. However, we are particularly concerned that the present, clean separation between Plectrohyla and these exemplars probably will not hold when more species of the two clades, particularly from the H. bistincta group, are added.” Contrary to their concern, additional species (Fig. 4) showed a complete separation of Plectrohyla from the “ Hyla bistincta Group” recognized herein as the genus Sarcohyla .