''Incilius'' is genus of toads in the true toad family, Bufonidae. They are sometimes known as the Central American toads or Middle American toads and are found in southern USA, Mexico, Central America, and northern Pacific South America (Colombia and Ecuador). They are an ecologically and biogeographically diverse group of toads, including micro- endemic species such as '' Incilius spiculatus'' that are restricted to undisturbed

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s, and widespread lowland species such as '' Incilius valliceps'' that predominantly occur in disturbed habitats.

Taxonomy and systematics

This genus was first described in 1863 by

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...

who designated the type species as '' Incilius coniferus''. This proved unpopular and these toads were known under the genus '' Bufo'' until the early 2000s. The current delineation of the genus follows Mendelson ''et al''. (2011) who brought ''Cranopsis''/''Cranophryne''/''Ollotis'' and ''Crepidius''/''Crepidophryne'' into synonymy with ''Incilius'', while providing evidence for removing ''

Rhinella ''Rhinella'', commonly known as South American toads, beaked toads or Rio Viejo toads, is a genus of true toads native to Neotropical parts of Mexico, Central and South America. Additionally, the cane toad has been introduced to Australia, the Ca ...

'' from ''Incilius''. Taxonomy and systematics of the toads now considered to be classified in this genus had seen many changes after ''Incilius'' was resurrected to split ''Bufo'' in the less than a decade before this 2011 paper. ''I. coniferus'' went through some five name changes in less than a dozen years. However, the monophyly of ''Incilius'' continues to be threatened by '' Incilius bocourti'', which might be the sister taxon of '' Anaxyrus''. Another discussion has been the taxonomic level at which the genus is recognized. ''Incilius'' did not see wide recognition before the large-scale revision of amphibian systematics by

Darrel Frost Darrel Richmond Frost (born 1951) is an American herpetologist and systematist. He was previously head curator of herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History, as well as president of both the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Repti ...

and colleagues in 2006, then under the name ''Cranopsis'', including the former "'' Bufo valliceps'' group" and some related species. However, others have argued that ''Incilius'' should be treated as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of '' Bufo''.

Species

There are at present 39 species: The AmphibiaWeb recognizes ''Incilius intermedius'' (Günther, 1858) as a valid species, whereas the Amphibian Species of the World considers it a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''

Incilius occidentalis The pine toad (''Incilius occidentalis'') is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Mexico and found on the Central Mexican Plateau. Taxonomy The species was conspecific with '' Incilius mccoyi'' until that species was d ...

'' (Camerano, 1879).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3007261 Amphibian genera Amphibians of North America Amphibians of Central America Amphibians of South America Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope