''Rulyrana'' is a small genus of

glass frog The glass frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae ( order Anura). While the general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent and translucent, ...

s. They are found in South America, on the Amazonian slopes of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Bolivia, as well as on the eastern slopes of the

Cordillera Central Central Cordillera refers to the New Guinea Highlands. Cordillera Central, meaning ''central range'' in Spanish, may refer to the following mountain ranges: * Cordillera Central, Andes (disambiguation), several mountain ranges in South America ** ...

and the western slopes of the Cordillera Oriental in Colombia.

Etymology

The generic name ''Rulyrana'' honors and who have "contributed enormously to the understanding of centrolenid diversity, biology, and evolution". The name is made up from the two first letters of their surnames in combination with ''rana'' for frog. In addition, "Ruly" is the nickname of Martín Bustamante, who has also contributed to amphibian conservation.

Description

''Rulyrana'' have moderate to extensive webbing between the third and fourth fingers. The dorsum is lavender in preserved individuals and may have spots. Internal features include green bones (in live specimens), lobed liver that is covered by a transparent hepatic peritoneum, whereas the ventral

parietal peritoneum The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesothe ...

is white in its anterior part and transparent in its poster part. The digestive tract is translucent. In terms of osteology, ''Rulyrana'' have dentigerous process in 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—usually—

ine teeth. The humeral spines are not present. While distinct from most other glass frogs, there are no characters that could unambiguously place a species in ''Rulyrana'' or in the genus '' Sachatamia''; genetic data are needed for an unambiguous allocation. The two genera, however, have largely disjunct distribution areas (''Rulyrana'' are found in the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

and the Colombian

while ''Sachatamia'' are not found further east than the Colombian Cordillera Central).

Reproduction

The males call while sitting on upper sides of leaves or rocks. The eggs are deposited on leaves or rocks.

Species

There are six species: * '' Rulyrana adiazeta'' (Ruiz-Carranza and Lynch, 1991) * '' Rulyrana flavopunctata'' (Lynch and Duellman, 1973) * '' Rulyrana mcdiarmidi'' (Cisneros-Heredia, Venegas, Rada, and Schulte, 2008) * '' Rulyrana saxiscandens'' (Duellman and Schulte, 1993) * '' Rulyrana spiculata'' (Duellman, 1976) * '' Rulyrana susatamai'' (Ruiz-Carranza and Lynch, 1995) The AmphibiaWeb includes also '' Sachatamia orejuela'' in this genus.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q544751 Glass frogs Amphibian genera Amphibians of South America