Tukeit Hill frog
| Tukeit Hill Frog | |
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| Subfamily: | Allophryninae Goin, Goin, & Zug, 1978
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| Genus: | Gaige, 1926
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| Species: | A. ruthveni
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| Binomial name | |
| Allophryne ruthveni Gaige, 1926
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| Distribution of A. ruthveni (in black) | |
The Tukeit Hill Frog (Allophryne ruthveni) is one of the two described species in the genus Allophryne (the other one being Allophryne resplendens[1]), which in turn is the only member of the subfamily Allophryninae, a clade recently placed under the family Centrolenidae[2] (elevated by some authors to the rank of a separate family Allophrynidae[1]). These frogs live in Guyana, Venezuela, Surinam, Brazil and Bolivia. The holotype was discovered at Tukeit Hill, below Kaieteur Falls, Guyana, hence the common English name.
Description
The Tukeit Hill Frog is a small frog. It is of variable colouration, either black, with stripes and spots which can be golden or dull yellow, or a dull yellow or golden ventral surface, with black strips and spots. It has a flat body, and small flat head. It has a single, sub-mandibular vocal sac. The toe pads are enlarged, wider than the fingers, and the tympanum is visible. The Tukeit Hill Frog is superficially similar to the tree frogs, however the end of their phalanges differ in shape (see below Taxonomic classification).
Taxonomy
Allophryne, the Tukeit Hill Frog, is part of a hitherto (see below) monotypic subfamily of anurans: Allophryninae. The evolutionary relationships of this species have always been controversial. It has been joint to families like Hylidae, Bufonidae, and Leptodactylidae, but until recently its closer relatives where unknown.
Allophryne is similar in its general shape to tree frogs of the family Hylidae, but Allophryne differs by having the last phalanges of fingers and toes T-shaped, a character found in Glassfrogs while Tree frogs have them claws-shaped. When the herpetologist G. K. Noble examined Allophryne, he suggested that it was closely related to Glassfrogs, a hypothesis later confirmed by recent phylogenetic studies that have found that Allophryne is the sister taxon of the glassfrog clade Centroleninae (Austin et al. 2002, Frost et al. 2006).
The Glassfrogs differ from Allophryne by having much more delicate skulls and by possessing intercalary elements between the last phalanges of fingers, a process on the third metacarpal, and non-explosive breeding, among other characteristics. Both Glassfrogs and the Allophrynidae are closely related to Leptodactylidae.
Recently, an undescribed species of frog which probably belongs to the genus Allophryne was discovered in Peru [1]. This suggests that the genus is actually more widespread and that more species await discovery. As A. ruthveni was assumed to be a northwest Amazonian endemic, the Peruvian frog indicates that the Allophrynidae might have been more widespread in prehistoric times, only later on disappearing from most of the Amazonas basin, and are actually a relict group. Alternatively, they might occur in the western Amazonas lowlands and simply have not been found yet, though this seems less likely.
Behaviour
The Tukeit Hill Frog is semi-arboreal, spending some times low in the trees, 1–3 metres, and some of the time on the ground. They are explosive breeders, taking advantage of small water ponds formed on the forest floor after periods of rain. This frog habits sparse forest, and may be restricted to forested areas, avoiding cleared land.
References
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (October 2008) |
- ^ a b Santiago Castroviejo-Fisher, Pedro E. Peréz-Peña, Jose M. Padial and Juan M. Guayasamin (2012). "A second species of the family Allophrynidae (Amphibia, Anura)". American Museum Novitates. 3739: 1–17.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Frost, Darrel R.; Grant, Taran; Faivovich, Julián; Bain, Raoul H.; Haas, Alexander; Haddad, Celio F. B.; De Sa, Rafael O.; Channing, A.; Wilkinson, Mark; Donnellan, Stephen C.; Raxworthy, Christopher J.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Blotto, Boris L.; Moler, Paul; Drewes, Robert C.; Nussbaum, Ronald A.; Lynch, John D.; Green, David M. & Wheeler, Ward C. (2006): The Amphibian Tree of Life]. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297: 1-370. PDF fulltext
- Austin, J. D.; Lougheed, S. C.; Tanner, K; Chek, A. A.; Bogart, J. P. & Boag, P. T. (2002): A molecular perspective on the evolutionary affinities of an enigmatic neotropical frog, Allophryne ruthveni. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 134(3): 335–346. PDF fulltext
- Cannatella, David (1996): The Tree of Life Web Project: Allophryne ruthveni. Version of 1 January 1996; retrieved 2007-JAN-06.
- Cogger, H. G.; Zweifel, R. G. & Kirschner, D. (2004): Encyclopedia of Reptiles & Amphibians (2nd edition). Fog City Press. ISBN 1-877019-69-0
- Frost, Darrel R.; Grant, Taran; Faivovich, Julián; Bain, Raoul H.; Haas, Alexander; Haddad, Celio F. B.; De Sa, Rafael O.; Channing, A.; Wilkinson, Mark; Donnellan, Stephen C.; Raxworthy, Christopher J.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Blotto, Boris L.; Moler, Paul; Drewes, Robert C.; Nussbaum, Ronald A.; Lynch, John D.; Green, David M. & Wheeler, Ward C. (2006): The Amphibian Tree of Life]. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297: 1-370. PDF fulltext
- InfoNatura (2005): Allophryne ruthveni Version 4.1, 28 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-JAN-06.
- Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes a range map and a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
