Julianus is a genus of

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not closely relat ...

s in the family

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and s ...

. They are found in southeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, and northeastern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. This genus is considered poorly defined and is regarded by most to merely be a synonym of ''

Scinax ''Scinax'' is a genus of frogs (snouted treefrogs) in the family Hylidae found in eastern and southern Mexico to Argentina and Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an islan ...

''. This genus is named after Julián Faivovich, who has contributed a notable amount of knowledge to the study of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

n tree frogs. It was created because '' Scinax uruguayus'' differed from other ''Scinax'' in the

larval A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The l ...

oral disc morphology. More specifically, the

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

has two keratinized and pigmented plates on the lower jaw sheath, along with the posterior marginal papillae being larger than the papillae on the lateral margins. The species '' Julianus pinimus'' was later added to this genus due to having similar features. However, other papers claim that these frogs are not distinct enough to be grouped into an entirely different genus and should be readded to ''Scinax''. This is because many of the characteristics used to define this genus are shared by other members of ''Scinax'' as well.

Species

There are currently two species in Julianus:''J. uruguayus'' is known from

Treinta y Tres Treinta y Tres () is the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay. Location The city is located on Route 8 (Uruguay), Route 8, on the north banks of Olimar Grande River. The city is almost surrounded by a populated rural ...

, Cerro Largo, and

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. Location and geography The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...

, along with Santa Catarina,

, and

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...

. It may also occur in parts of

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, but this is unconfirmed. ''J. pinimus'' is only known from a single locality in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

References

{{Reflist Hylidae Amphibian genera Amphibians of South America Taxa described in 2016