''Phyllodytes'' is a genus of
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 (heart-tongued frogs) 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 ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to eastern
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 ...
.
[
]
Taxonomy
Based on genetic evidence, genus '' Phytotriades'' was erected in 2009 to remedy polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...
of ''Phyllodytes'' as then defined.[ It remains to be elucidated which ''Phyllodytes'' species, apart from ''Phytotriades'' (=''Phyllodytes'') ''auratus'', the ]type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
of the genus ''Phytotriades'', might belong to ''Phytotriades'' instead of ''Phyllodytes''.[ With ''Phytotriades auratus'' from Trinidad and Venezuela placed in its own genus, the remaining ''Phyllodytes'' species are all endemic to Brazil.]
Description
These are small arboreal frogs which live and breed exclusively on epiphytic bromeliad
The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...
plants. They have large odontoids ("fangs") on the dentaries
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...
.
Species
This genus includes 14 species:[
AmphibiaWeb continues to include '']Phytotriades auratus
''Phytotriades'' is a genus of tree frogs in the family Hylidae. As currently delimited, the genus is monotypic and contains ''Phytotriades auratus'', commonly known as the golden tree frog, bromeliad-dwelling treefrog, El Tucuche golden tree fro ...
'' in this genus.[
]
References
External links
* taxo
''Phyllodytes''
at http://www.eol.org.
* Taxo
''Phyllodytes''
at https://www.itis.gov/index.html.
* Taxo
''Phyllodytes''
at http://data.gbif.org/welcome.htm
{{Taxonbar, from=Q427125
Hylinae
Amphibians of South America
Endemic fauna of Brazil
Amphibian genera
Taxa named by Johann Georg Wagler