Centrolenidae (sensu Taylor, 1951)

Guayasamin, Juan M., Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago, Trueb, Linda, Ayarzagüena, José, Rada, Marco & Vilà, Carles, 2009, Figure 6 In A New Species Of Noblella (Amphibia: Strabomantidae) From The Western Slopes Of The Andes Of Ecuador, Zootaxa 2100, pp. 1-97 : 43-44

Centrolenidae , Allophrynidae , and Neobatrachia

The phylogenetic position of Centrolenidae within the diversity of Neobatrachia has been debated but not resolved with confidence either by molecular studies ( Austin et al. 2002; Biju & Bossuyt 2003; Darst & Cannatella 2004; Faivovich et al. 2005; Wiens et al. 2005; Frost et al. 2006; Grant et al. 2006; Roelants et al. 2007) or by phenotypic data ( Jiménez de la Espada 1872; Noble 1931; Taylor 1951; Lynch 1973; Ford & Cannatella 1993; Duellman & Trueb 1994; Rueda-Almonacid 1994; Duellman 2001; Haas 2003; Burton 2004; Wiens et al. 2005). We attempted to address this issue in a previous study ( Guayasamin et al. 2008a) using molecular data, and obtained results supporting an Allophrynidae + Centrolenidae clade. Herein, we propose the unranked taxon Allocentroleniae for the Centrolenidae + Allophrynidae clade, which was considered a family (i.e., Centrolenidae ) by Frost et al. (2006). Our arrangement has the virtue of maintaining the names that have been used in recent decades (i.e., Centrolenidae , Allophrynidae ). When naming clades under the rules of the ICZN (1999) or any other system, taxonomists should promote name stability. In a ranked system such as the ICZN, there are multiple available ranks above the genus and below the superfamily (Article 35.1; ICZN); however, only few of these ranks are commonly used by systematists. As mentioned before, we had the option of erecting an intermediate rank (e.g., Subsuperfamily) to recognize the Centrolenidae + Allophrynidae clade, but such a rank, we think, would have created more confusion. Instead, we favored a simpler alternative, creating an unranked taxon. It is clear that, if we want to avoid constant rank shifting to accommodate the need of formalizing new ranks, the Linnaean system needs modification. There are only a limited number of ranks to name all the diversity of life. Unranked names solve that problem (see Cantino & de Queiroz 2007, and references therein).

The relationships of Allocentroleniae and other anurans remain uncertain. Although some studies suggest Leptodactylidae or Leiuperidae as the sister taxon of Allocentroleniae ( Frost et al. 2006; Guayasamin et al. 2008a), it is evident that more nuclear loci will be necessary to clarify the relationships within Hyloidea.