Aplastodiscus A. Lutz

FAIVOVICH, JULIÁN, HADDAD, CÉLIO F. B., GARCIA, PAULO C. A., FROST, DARREL R., CAMPBELL, JONATHAN A. & WHEELER, WARD C., 2005, Systematic Review Of The Frog Family Hylidae, With Special Reference To Hylinae: Phylogenetic Analysis And Taxonomic Revision, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2005 (294), pp. 1-240 : 76-80

Aplastodiscus A. Lutz in B. Lutz, 1950

TYPE SPECIES: Aplastodiscus perviridis A. Lutz in B. Lutz, 1950, by original designation.

DIAGNOSIS: This genus is diagnosed by 72 transformations in nuclear and mitochondrial proteins and ribosomal genes. See appendix 5 for a complete list of these molecular synapomorphies. Other apparent synapomorphies of this clade are the particular reproductive modes, where the male constructs a subterranean nest in the muddy side of streams and ponds, and where larvae spend early stages of development; subsequent to flooding, the exotrophic larvae live in ponds or streams (Haddad and Sawaya, 2000; Hartmann et al., 2004, Haddad et al., 2005). The presence of proportionally very developed metacarpal and metatarsal tubercles is a possible morphological synapomorphy of the genus (Garcia et al., 2001).

COMMENTS: Our results imply a clade composed of Aplastodiscus and two complexes of the former Hyla albomarginata group, as defined by Cruz and Peixoto (‘‘1985’’ [1987]): the H. albofrenata and H. albosignata complexes, which are here included in Aplastodiscus .

Garcia et al. (2001) suggested four synapomorphies for Aplastodiscus as then understood (that is, containing only A. cochranae and A. perviridis ): (1) lack of webbing between toes I and II, and very reduced webbing in the remaining toes, (2) bicolored iris, (3) females with unpigmented eggs, and (4) highly developed inner metacarpal and metatarsal tubercles. The lack of webbing between toes I and II, the reduction of webbing among the remaining toes, and the bicolored iris occur only in the two species originally contained in Aplastodiscus . These species, A. cochranae and A. perviridis , are here includ­ ed in the A. perviridis group, and therefore these two character states are possibly syna­ pomorphic only of this group, not of Aplastodiscus as redefined here. The very developed inner metacarpal and metatarsal tubercles are also present in all species of the Hyla albofrenata and H. albosignata complexes (Cruz and Peixoto ‘‘1984’’ [1985], ‘‘1985’’ [1987]; Cruz et al., 2003), and we consider this feature as a putative synapomorphy of Aplastodiscus as redefined here. The presence of unpigmented eggs is known to occur in all species of the former H. albofrenata and H. albosignata complexes with known eggs (Haddad and Sawaya, 2000; Garcia et al., 2001; Hartmann et al., 2004; Haddad et al., 2005). However, the taxonomic distribution of egg pigmentation within Cophomantini is not well known. It is possible that unpigmented eggs are actually a synapomorphy of a more inclusive clade, as they are known to occur in at least some species of Hyloscirtus ( H. jahni , H. larinopygion , H. palmeri , and H. platydactyla ; La Marca, 1985, and Faivovich, personal obs.), Hypsiboas ( H. lemai, Duellman [1997] , and the undescribed species here called Hyla sp. 2 ), and Myersiohyla new genus ( Hyla inparquesi ; Faivo­ vich, Myers, and McDiarmid, in prep.; eggs of M. kanaima are pigmented, Duellman and Hoogmoed, 1992); the only known eggs of species of Bokermannohyla , new genus have a pigmented animal pole (Sazima and Bokermann, 1977; Eterovick and Brandão, 2001).

Most species of Aplastodiscus , as redefined here, possess a white parietal peritoneum (Garcia and Faivovich, personal obs.), as it occurs in some other Cophomantini ( Hyla bogotensis , H. granosa , and H. punctata groups, H. marginata ; Ruiz­Carranza and Lynch [1991: 4]; Garcia [2003]; Faivovich, personal obs.). While this could be a possible synapomorphy of Aplastodiscus , the taxonomic distribution of this character state is still poorly known in various components of the Cophomantini , so we prefer to await further research on the issue, before hypothesizing polarities.

Bokermann (1967c) pointed out the overall similarity among advertisement calls of the Hyla albofrenata and H. albosignata complexes and Aplastodiscus perviridis . Future research will define whether any character state related to the advertisement calls could be considered as a synapomorphy of Aplastodiscus as redefined here, or of any of its internal clades.

CONTENTS: Fourteen species included in three species groups.