''Pleurodema'' is a genus of

leptodactylid The southern frogs form the Leptodactylidae, a name that comes from Greek meaning a bird or other animal having slender toes. They are a diverse family of frogs that most likely diverged from other hyloids during the Cretaceous. The family has u ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

s from

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 souther ...

. They are sometimes known under the common name four-eyed frogs, although this name can also refer to a particular species, '' Pleurodema bibroni''. The common name is a reference to two inguinal poison glands that resemble eyes. When threatened, the frog lowers its head and raises its rear. When the frog adopts this posture, the poison glands are also raised toward the predator. The predator may also confuse the frog's raised posterior for the head of a larger animal.

Species

The genus contains only the following 15 species: * '' Pleurodema alium'' Maciel and Nunes, 2010 * '' Pleurodema bibroni'' Tschudi, 1838 * '' Pleurodema borellii'' (Peracca, 1895) * ''

Pleurodema brachyops The Colombian four-eyed frog (''Pleurodema brachyops''; in Spanish: ''sapito lipon'') is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is found in an area stretching from Guyana and northern Brazil (Roraima state) through Venezuela (incl ...

'' (Cope, 1869) * '' Pleurodema bufoninum'' Bell, 1843 * '' Pleurodema cinereum'' Cope, 1878 * ''

Pleurodema cordobae ''Pleurodema cordobae'' is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is endemic to the Sierras de Córdoba of Argentina. This endemic species also resides with the highly similar species, '' Pleurodema kriegi''. ''P. cordobae'' exhibits ...

'' Valetti, Salas, and Martino, 2009 * '' Pleurodema diplolister'' (Peters, 1870) * '' Pleurodema guayapae'' Barrio, 1964 * '' Pleurodema kriegi'' (Müller, 1926) * '' Pleurodema marmoratum'' (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) * ''

Pleurodema nebulosum ''Pleurodema nebulosum'' is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is endemic to Argentina. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, temperate grassland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland ...

'' (Burmeister, 1861) * '' Pleurodema somuncurense'' (Cei, 1969) * ''

Pleurodema thaul ''Pleurodema thaul'', the chilean four-eyed frog is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Its natural habitats are subantarctic forests, temperate forests, temperate shrubland, temperate grassland, r ...

'' (Lesson, 1827) * '' Pleurodema tucumanum'' Parker, 1927

References

Leptodactylinae Amphibians of South America Amphibian genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi {{Leptodactylidae-stub