''Ceuthomantis'' is a small genus of craugastorid

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s, also treated as comprising their own

monogeneric In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family Ceuthomantidae. They are found in the southern and eastern parts of the

Guiana Highlands The Guianas, sometimes called by the Spanish loan-word ''Guayanas'' (''Las Guayanas''), is a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories: * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France * G ...

in Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. The generic name is derived from the Greek noun ''mantis'', which means treefrog, and adjective ''keuthos'', which means hidden, in allusion to the hidden existence of this genus in the

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

s of the Guiana Shield.

Taxonomy

''Ceuthomantis'' was first described as the only genus in its own family Ceuthomantidae, but is now merged with Pristimantinae; the oldest name for this taxon is Ceuthomantinae. The AmphibiaWeb maintains Ceuthomantidae as a monogeneric family. ''Ceuthomantis'' is closely related to '' Dischidodactylus'', with which they share a

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

: completely or almost completely divided

ungual An ungual (from Latin ''unguis'', i.e. ''nail'') is a highly modified distal toe bone which ends in a hoof, claw, or nail. Elephants and ungulates have ungual phalanges, as did the sauropods and horned dinosaurs. A claw is a highly modified ungual ...

flaps. Both genera also have dorsal skin composed of small, flat, pliable (not keratinized) warts, and lack nuptial pads in adult males. They differ in that ''Dischidodactylus'' possesses a dentigerous process of the

vomer The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxill ...

, and in that ''Ceuthomantis'' lack basal toe webbing.

Description

''Ceuthomantis'' are greenish frogs with narrow heads. They have T-shaped terminal phalanges and paired, dorsal, gland-like protrusions in the post-temporal and sacral regions; the function of the latter is unknown. They have notched digital discs on the fingers and toes. Vomerine teeth and nuptial pads are absent.

Species

The genus contains four species: * '' Ceuthomantis aracamuni'' (Barrio-Amorós and Molina, 2006) * '' Ceuthomantis cavernibardus'' (Myers and Donnelly, 1997) * '' Ceuthomantis duellmani'' Barrio-Amorós, 2010 * ''

Ceuthomantis smaragdinus ''Ceuthomantis'' is a small genus of craugastorid frogs, also treated as comprising their own monogeneric family Ceuthomantidae. They are found in the southern and eastern parts of the Guiana Highlands in Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. The generi ...

'' Heinicke, Duellman, Trueb, Means, MacCulloch, and Hedges, 2009

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2947136 Craugastoridae Amphibian genera Amphibians of South America Taxa named by William Edward Duellman Taxa named by Stephen Blair Hedges Taxa named by Ross Douglas MacCulloch Amphibians of the Tepuis