''Pithecopus'' is a genus of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

s in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Phyllomedusinae Phyllomedusinae is a subfamily of hylid tree frogs found in the Neotropics commonly called leaf frogs. Formerly, they were often considered as their own family, Phyllomedusidae. The subfamily is considered to be the sister group to the Austral ...

. Species of the genus ''Pithecopus'' are found in tropical South America east of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, from southern Venezuela to northern Argentina. Resurrected from the synonymy of ''

Phyllomedusa ''Phyllomedusa'' is a genus of tree frogs in the subfamily Phyllomedusinae found in tropical and subtropical South America (south to northern Argentina) and Panama. It has 16 recognised species. Taxonomy The following species are recognised i ...

'' in 2016, it corresponds to the former ''

Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis ''Pithecopus hypochondrialis'', the northern orange-legged leaf frog or tiger-legged monkey frog, is a species of frog in the subfamily Phyllomedusinae found in South America. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtro ...

'' group. Its

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

is '' Callimedusa''.

Etymology

The name of this genus is derived from the Greek ''pithekodes'', which means "ape-like".

Description

''Pithecopus'' are medium-sized frogs measuring about in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

. Toe I is much longer than toe II, and is opposable to it. No vomerine teeth are present. The

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s have a moderately small oral disc that is anteroventrally directed.

Species

There are 12 species in this genus: The AmphibiaWeb lists only two species (''Pithecopus araguaius'' and ''Pithecopus gonzagai''), the rest being included in ''Phyllomedusa''.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q25377057 Phyllomedusinae Amphibian genera Frogs of South America Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope