Browsing by Author "Myers, Charles W."
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Item Anguid lizards of the genus Diploglossus in Panama, with the description of a new species. American Museum novitates ; no. 2523(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1973) Myers, Charles W."Three species of Diploglossus occur in Panama. Diploglossus montisilvestris is described from cloud forest of the Serranía de Pirre, Darién Province. The new species differs from most other mainland Diploglossus (Celestus included) in having the nasal scale separated from the rostral, and from most Antillean and some mainland species in having an ungual (claw) sheath. It is superficially similar to D. bilobatus but differs significantly in characteristics of the nasal region, in the ungual sheath, and in other characters; it is possibly arboreal, whereas D. bilobatus is terrestrial. Diploglossus bilobatus is reported from Panama for the first time, and a photograph from life is presented. Although not abundant, the large, orange-bellied Diploglossus monotropis is well known in Panama, being called escorpión coral in the west and by the Colombian names madre de culebra and madre coral in the east. Each of the three species is defined and diagnosed and the coloration described from life. A key is given to the three genera and five species of Anguidae in Panama"--P. [1].Item Anomaloglossus confusus, a new Ecuadorian frog formerly masquerading as "Colostethus" chocoensis (Dendrobatoidea, Aromobatidae). (American Museum novitates, no. 3659)(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History., 2009) Myers, Charles W.; Grant, Taran, 1972-Anomaloglossus confusus, new species, is a small (21-26 mm SVL) riparian frog from the Pacific versant of the Andes in northwestern Ecuador. It inhabits rocky forest streams in an elevational range of about 600-1540 m. It is the only known Anomaloglossus in Ecuador, where it can be distinguished from all other dendrobatoids by the generic synapomorphy of a median lingual process. The only other named trans-Andean species of Anomaloglossus are the western Colombian A. atopoglossus and A. lacrimosus. Anomaloglossus confusus was previously confused with "Hylixalus" or "Colostethus" chocoensis (currently in Hyloxalus), a rare species described by Boulenger on the basis of a subadult female from Pacific lowland Colombia. The first adult specimen of Hyloxalus chocoensis, an adult male, is described. The generic name Hylixalus is not "an incorrect subsequent spelling" as recently interpreted, but an emendation with its own authorship and date of publication (Boulenger, 1882); as such, it is a junior objective synonym of Hyloxalus and is an available name.Item An arboreal poison frog (Dendrobates) from western Panama. American Museum novitates ; no. 2783(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1984) Myers, Charles W.; Daly, John W.; Martínez, Víctor, herpetologist."Dendrobates arboreus, new species, is a small arboreal frog with a dorsal and ventral pattern of vivid yellow spots on a brown or black field. It is abundant at 1100-1300 m. above sea level on a low section of the continental divide in western Panama, where, in undisturbed cloud forest, virtually the entire population resdies high aboveground on trees laden with bromeliads and other epiphytes. A few specimens also come from a locality in the adjacent Caribbean lowlands. The pale-spotted color pattern of Dendrobates arboreus is similar to that of the enigmatic D. maculatus, also from western Panama, but these two species differ significantly in morphology and are not closely related. Dendrobates arboreus is assigned to the histrionicus species group, which includes two species occurring macrosympatrically with arboreus, D. speciosus (highlands) and D. pumilio (lowlands). The monophyly of the histrionicus group is indicated by very similar-sounding chirp calls - given as long trains of harsh notes that differ among species in rate of note repetition, note duration, and dominant frequency. New spectrographic analysis of pulse rates compels a restatement of Myers and Daly's original distinction between chirp calls and buzz calls, two important classes of dendrobatid vocalization. Courtship and egg laying of Dendrobates arboreus, and cannibalism of eggs by an adult female, were observed in captivity. There is no amplexus during mating, although typical cephalic amplexus (primitive within the Dendrobatidae) is retained in the behavioral repertory, possibly in an aggressive context. Courtship includes tactile signals by both sexes prior to their assuming a vent-to-vent position for egg laying and fertilization. An instance of mate piracy was observed when a second male successfully intruded at a late stage of courtship, bypassing the preliminary tactile signaling of the original pair. Defensive skin secretions of Dendrobates arboreus contained 14 piperidine alkaloids, including members of the pumiliotoxin-A class and its allopumiliotoxin-A subclass. Remaining alkaloids, including two new compounds, are left unclassified. Histrionicotoxins were not detected"--P. [1]-2.Item Blunt-headed vine snakes (Imantodes) in Panama, including a new species and other revisionary notes. American Museum novitates ; no. 2738(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1982) Myers, Charles W."The widespread Neotropical genus Imantodes (Colubridae) is partially revised in order to determine the relationships of a distinctive new snake discovered on an isolated ridge in eastern Panama. The six species of blunt-headed vine snakes now recognized are equally divided between two monophyletic assemblages - the cenchoa and lentiferus groups - based on hemipenial characters, maxillary dentition, relative tongue (fork) length, and coloration (reduction of pigmentation in the primitive blotched markings) ... From examination of type specimens of old names currently in the synonymy of Imantodes cenchoa, it is concluded that (1) the placement of Himantodes anisolepis and H. platycephalus is correct, (2) Himantodes hemigenius is a junior synonym of I. gemmistratus, and (3) the name Himantodes semifasciatus is a composite of I. cenchoa and I. gemmistratus. A lectotype is designated to keep semifasciatus with cenchoa, but the nominal subspecies Imantodes cenchoa semifasciatus is nonetheless considered invalid. A lectotype also is designated for Imantodes lentiferus"--P. 2-3.Item Bolitoglossa taylori, a new salamander from cloud forest of the Serranía de Pirre, eastern Panama. American Museum novitates ; no. 2430(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1970) Wake, David B.; Brame, Arden H.; Myers, Charles W.Item Central American lizards related to Anolis pentaprion : two new species from the Cordillera de Talamanca. American Museum novitates ; no. 2471(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1971) Myers, Charles W."New species of lizards are described from the Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama. Anolis fungosus, from lower montane rain forest of the Atlantic slopes, is a tiny, fungus-patterned anole with a pair of bony parietal knobs on the rear of its head. Anolis vociferans, which lives on the drier Pacific slopes and squeaks when handled, undergoes an ontogenetic transformation of the ventral granules--from obliquely conical and juxtaposed to keeled and imbricate. Both species appear related to the lowland Anolis pentaprion Cope, and a pentaprion species group is defined. Evolution within the group has included selection for lichenose and fungous camouflage; on the basis of osteology, color pattern, and scale features, A. vociferans is suggested as the most primitive member and A. fungosus as the most divergent. Notes are presented on the distribution, variation, behavior, and synonymy of Anolis pentaprion Cope, 1862; a lectotype is designated for the nominal Anolis panamensis Boulenger, 1890. A Colombian species, Anolis sulcifrons Cope, 1899, is resurrected from the synonymy of pentaprion. The importance of describing dewlap color in anoles is widely recognized, but collectors are also urged to record the coloration (or absence thereof) of the iris, the tongue, and the throat lining"--P. [1].Item A dangerously toxic new frog (Phyllobates) used by Emberá Indians of western Colombia, with discussion of blowgun fabrication and dart poisoning. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 161, article 2(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1978) Myers, Charles W.; Daly, John W.; Malkin, Borys."Phyllobates terribilis, a remarkably toxic new species of frog, is described from the vicinity of an Emberá Chocó settlement in lowland rain forest of Pacific coastal Colombia. It is the third frog definitely known to be used for poisoning darts; the other species are P. aurotaenia and P. bicolor. Toxicity of the skin secretions of Phyllobates, and frog-poisoned darts, is due primarily to batrachotoxin and homobatrachotoxin, steroidal alkaloids that are stronger than curare mixtures. Phyllobates terribilis produces relatively massive quantities of these compounds and is at least twentyfold more toxic than other poison-dart frogs. The new species is potentially dangerous to handle: One freshly caught frog may contain up to 1900 micrograms ... of toxins, only a fraction of which would be lethal to man if enough skin secretion came into contact with an open wound. A human lethal dose is indirectly judged as being somewhere in the range of 2-200 [micrograms], and the secretions also are irritating to porous skin and poisonous if ingested. Phyllobates terribilis attains a snout-vent length of about 47 mm., making it one of the largest species in its family (Dendrobatidae). It is readily distinguished from all other dendrobatids in that body and limbs are a uniform golden or pale metallic green color above and below, except that small juveniles have a primitive pattern of golden dorsolateral stripes on a black ground. The ontogenetic color change, tadpoles, and other aspects of the life history and behavior are described. A component of aggressive grappling behavior of this and some other dendrobatids is suggested as being homologous with dendrobatid cephalic amplexus, an instance of which is photographically documented for Dendrobates tricolor. The trill call of Phyllobates is the third class of dendrobatid vocalizations to be defined. At the type locality, Phyllobates terribilis occurs in populations of predominantly adult frogs that probably have relatively long (> 5 years) and secure lives; reproductive success or juvenile survivorship might be inversely correlated with population density. Emberá Indians are occasional predators, and the snake Leimadophis epinephelus is identified as a potential predator, at least of young frogs. This snake has an unusual capacity for tolerating a great chemical diversity of anuran skin secretions. Piperidine-based skin alkaloids provide a shared, uniquely derived character (synapomorphy), seeming to establish that frogs of the Dendrobates-Phyllobates complex share a monophyletic origin apart from a sister group (Colostethus). But, in the Phyllobates bicolor group, primitive piperidine alkaloids have been largely replaced by a more effective set of defensive skin toxins--the steroidal batrachotoxins. The latter are a novel synapomorphy that seems to establish the monophyly of Phyllobates (sensu stricto), a genus heretofore inadequately defined on the basis of shared primitive (simplesiomorphic) characters. Most of the species recently assigned to Phyllobates (by Silverstone, 1976) are here removed to Dendrobates, including the nomenclatural type species (trivittatus) on which the name Dendrobates must be based. Dendrobates is more diverse as now defined (vs. Silverstone, 1975). The diversity is due to a mixture of shared primitive characters, along with derived characters still to be tested for convergence or parallelism. These changes have minimal effect on the usefulness of Silverstone's (1975, 1976) monographs on the two genera, since his accounts of species and species groups are mostly well considered. The laborious process of fabricating an Emberá Chocó blowgun, quiver, and darts is described and photographically illustrated. The Chocó blowgun is of Yde's type IV, two long and tapering, semi-cylindrical sections of palm wood glued together and wrapped with bast. There are two principal ways of making the bore in type-IV blowguns. Some tribes (Jívaro and Yagua) scratch initial grooves on the half-shafts, which are then joined and the bore enlarged and smoothed with a ramrod and sand. The Chocó and Cofán finish the grooves before the half-shafts are joined; use of metal implements by present-day Chocó and Cofán probably is a simple improvement over such objects as mammal teeth, said to have been used for the same purpose by Pasé Indians over a century ago. The Chocó weapon differs from most other type-IV blowguns in lacking a separate mouthpiece and in rarely being water-proofed. The blowgun is for hunting, but, unlike some Amazonian tribes, the Chocó may have no superstitious strictures against turning it occasionally on man. The Chocó are the only Indians known with certainty to use frog toxins as the sole ingredient of dart poison, and the practice is documented only in the Río San Juan and Río Saija drainages of western Colombia; use of a plant poison is more widespread, although the Chocó blowgun iss on the decline and absent in some areas. The Emberá Chocó and Noanamá Chocó have two ways of obtaining frog poison: frogs of the species Phyllobates aurotaenia and P. bicolor (San Juan drainage) are impaled on a special stick entering the mouth and exiting through a hind leg; the spitted frog may sometimes, but not necessarily, be held near fire while darts are rubbed in its skin secretions. In contrast, dart tips are simply rubbed against the backs of living Phyllobates terribilis (Saija region). These different methods reflect more on the relative toxicity and abundance of the frogs than on cultural differences"--P. 311-312.Item Discovery of a defensively malodorous and nocturnal frog in the family Dendrobatidae : phylogenetic significance of a new genus and species from the Venezuelan Andes. American Museum novitates ; no. 3002(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1991) Myers, Charles W.; Paolillo O., Alfredo.; Daly, John W.Item Discovery of the Costa Rican poison frog Dendrobates granuliferus in sympatry with Dendrobates pumilio, and comments on taxonomic use of skin alkaloids. American Museum novitates ; no. 3144(New York : American Museum of Natural History, 1995) Myers, Charles W.; Daly, John W.; Garraffo, H. Martin.; Wisnieski, Anthony.; Cover, John F."Dendrobates granuliferus, previously thought to be a characteristic endemic of Pacific-side rain forest in the Golfo Dulce region, was found in sympatry with Dendrobates pumilio on the Caribbean coast of southeastern Costa Rica, near the Panamanian border. The sympatric frogs were easily separated by features of coloration and skin texture. Relative abundance in microsympatry was about 100 pumilio:4 granuliferus. Inasmuch as Dendrobates pumilio is sometimes strikingly polymorphic within populations, the initial identifications were tested with bioacoustical, skin-alkaloid, and allozyme data. These comparisons negate the possibility of intrapopulational polymorphism and are consistent with the determination of the rare species as D. granuliferus. Previous inferences that D. granuliferus and D. pumilio are sister species are neither supported nor repudiated by present data. Interpopulational and even individual variation in the skin toxins of these species is extraordinary and probably reflect dietary differences as well as genetic factors. Current knowledge of the dendrobatid alkaloids is briefly reviewed in a systematic context. With a few exceptions, skin chemistry has not been useful in supporting taxonomic differentiation of closely related species. But underlying genetic mechanisms for alkaloid sequestering (and synthesis?) support the monophyly of a suprageneric group of aposematic dendrobatids (tropical poison frogs). Within this group, the monophyly of Phyllobates (true dart-poison frogs) and of Phyllobates + Dendrobates is supported by alkaloid data. The monophyly of Minyobates (dwarf poison frogs) also is corroborated, although in this case the alkaloid character is one of loss and especially in need of further study"--P. [1]-2.Item Discovery of the frog genus Anomaloglossus in Panama, with descriptions of two new species from the Chagres Highlands (Dendrobatoidea, Aromobatidae). (American Museum novitates, no. 3763)(American Museum of Natural History., 2012-11-21) Myers, Charles W.; Ibañez D., Roberto.; Grant, Taran, 1972-; Jaramillo A., César A.The occurrence in Panama is documented for the South American frog genus Anomaloglossus (Dendrobatoidea: Aromobatidae). Two species are described from a low, forested uplift in east-central Panama, just northeast of Panama City. These low mountains, unnamed on maps, are designated the "Chagres Highlands" because a large part of the uplift lies in the Río Chagres drainage (which provides water critical to lock operation in the Panama Canal). The Chagres Highlands may be a lower montane forest refuge for some amphibians and reptiles, including the two Anomaloglossus and Atelopus limosus, and the rare snakes Atractus depressiocellus, A. imperfectus, Geophis bellus, and Rhadinaea sargenti. Several other rare species are not endemic but include the Chagres Highland area as part of their individually fragmented or mosaic distributions (Adinobates fulguritus, Anolis kunayalae, Coniophanes joanae, Geophis bracycephalus, Dipsas nicholsi). The two new frogs are at least broadly sympatric in the Chagres Highlands, but both species are rare. Anomaloglossus astralogaster, new species, is known only from the adult female holotype (22 mm SVL). Its ventral surfaces are covered overall with whitish dots ([< or =] 0.1 mm) somewhat similar to large chromatophores but possibly glandular; there is no appearance of glandular structure at x50 magnification, but the edges of some of the pale dots can be "felt" with a fine (0.1 mm diameter) teasing needle and histological examination is needed. The other taxon is Anomaloglossus isthminus, new species, which is described from six specimens including four adult males (19-21 mm SVL), one adult female (23 mm SVL), and a juvenile female. Dorsal surfaces are basically brown mottled with darker brown. Small pale yellowish spots located proximally above the insertions of arm and thigh are not well defined and tend to disappear after preservation (unlike normal dendrobatid flash markings). Ventral surfaces are pale blue with some dark mottling but no pale dots. The vocalization of A. isthminus resembles calls of some South American species in being a train of "peeplike" notes, but there are fundamental interspecific differences in frequency modulation, note repetition rate, and call length.Item Distribution of the dendrobatid frog Colostethus chocoensis : and description of a related species occurring macrosympatrically. American Museum novitates ; no. 3010(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1991) Myers, Charles W.Item The ecological geography of cloud forest in Panama. American Museum novitates ; no. 2396(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1969) Myers, Charles W."The physiography, climate, and major vegetational regions of Panama are discussed, with particular reference to factors that influence the distribution and nature of cloud forest. Difficulties were encountered in applying the Holdridge classification of life zones or world plant formations to the natural regions of Panama, and it is concluded that other systems are at least easier to use in the field. The extensive cuipo forests (Cavanillesia plantanifolia association) of eastern Panama are thought to be largely the result of edaphic factors associated with the nearly base-level terrain, rather than being primarily the result of climatic control as suggested in recent life zone maps. Cloud forest is thought of as a habitat or community-type in a very broad sense, but the term will not be useful for all purposes and usually needs to be qualified. A cloud forest is any montane forest that owes its character primarily to the atmospheric conditions associated with frequent, enshrouding clouds, even though such forests may be quite diverse by floristic and some physiognomic criteria. The vegetation tends to be conspicuously lusher than in adjacent zones of little or no cloud formation and usually there is a profuse growth of epiphytes. Known cloud forests in Panama are mountaintop and ridge phenomena and do not give way to higher vegetational zones; exceptions probably occur on the unexplored Cerro Santiago, and possibly on the north face of Volcán de Chiriquí, the two highest mountains in Panama. Grassy savannas above a reputed cloud forest in the Azuero Peninsula probably were caused by the activity of man. Cloud forest first occurs on mountains at the unusually low elevation of 750 meters in eastern Panama and at 2200 meters on higher mountains in western Panama. These forests may be confined almost to the crest of a ridge or extend as much as 300 meters in elevation down the side of a mountain and, in the latter case, there may be distinct subzones, including elfin woodland. Panamanian cloud forests are briefly described and pictured herein, and are discussed in various generalities that probably apply to cloud forests in other places. Some ecological implications of the various topics are illustrated by a few selected plant and animal examples. Cloud forests that border on significantly drier zones (e.g. evergreen seasonal forest on steep slopes) provide at least partial genetic isolation for organisms having high moisture requirements, as is suggested by populations of certain Panmanian frogs. Cloud forests that border on zones equally as wet (i.e., montane rain forest) are perhaps of less ecological and evolutionary importance"--P. 49-50.Item Eleutherodactylus laticorpus, a peculiar new frog from the Cerro Tacarcuna area, Panamanian-Colombian frontier. American Museum novitates ; no. 3196(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1997) Myers, Charles W.; Lynch, John D.Item An enigmatic new snake from cloud forest of the Península de Paria, Venezuela (Colubridae, genus Taeniophallus?). American Museum novitates ; no. 3484(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 2005) Schargel, Walter E.; Rivas Fuenmayor, Gilson; Myers, Charles W.The snake Taeniophallus nebularis, new species, is known from a single specimen collected in montane cloud forest, 800 m above sea level, Península de Paria, northeastern Venezuela. It is a small "xenodontine" colubrid (adult male, 492 mm total length); dorsal scales in 19-19-17 rows, smooth, with paired apical pits anteriorly; brown dorsally and grayish laterally, with ill-defined pattern; white postocular stripe; and bright yellow midventrally between serrated black edges. The species is easily diagnosed, although assignment to Taeniophallus is problematic. However, a few suggestive characters are shared with T. brevirostris and T. nicagus. These species, presumably the closest geographic relatives of T. nebularis, occur in the Amazon basin and the Guianas, indicative of a biogeographic parallel with certain plants. Taeniophallus occipitalis, with extreme scale-row reduction and a distinctive color pattern possibly derived from a brevirostris-like precursor, is widely distributed south of the Amazon. Four additional species of Taeniophallus s.l. comprise the monophyletic affinis species group centered in southeastern Brazil. The genus Echinanthera (also centered in southeastern Brazil) is sometimes expanded to include all of Taeniophallus. Echinanthera s.s. is viewed as a demonstrably monophyletic group of six named species, whereas relationships of the subgroups of Taeniophallus s.l. among themselves and to Echinanthera remain uncertain. Evolutionary divergence in copulatory organs of the otherwise similar Taeniophallus nicagus and T. brevirostris is extraordinary, suggesting that uncritical weight cannot safely be assigned to hemipenial characters of presumptive relatives. The hemipenis of Taeniophallus nebularis differs from those of other taxa discussed in being conspicuously bilobed for nearly a third of its length. However, some degree of bilobation is symplesiomorphic for these snakes, as evidenced by presence or absence of weak bilobation in a few species and divided insertions of retractor muscles in all. The penial asulcate interspinal gap in T. nebularis also might be symplesiomorphic for Taeniophallus s.l. and Echinanthera s.s., but homologies and level of generality for this character are not yet clear.Item An enigmatic new snake from the Peruvian Andes, with notes on the Xenodontini (Colubridae, Xenodontinae). American Museum novitates ; no. 2853(New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History, 1986) Myers, Charles W."Liophis problematicus, new species, is based on a specimen from 1520 m elevation on the Amazonian side of the Andes in the Department of Puno, extreme southeastern Peru. It is a very small snake (adult male 275 mm total length), with a bilobed hemipenis having nude apical discs, a condition that defines a probably monophyletic group (tribe Xenodontini) of at least six genera of Neotropical xenodontine colubrids. Beyond this, the relationships of the new species are uncertain, but a pragmatic assignment to Liophis (s.l.) scarcely violates the definition of this highly variable, possibly nonmonophyletic genus. Incidental notes are provided on the hemipenis, coloration, and behavior of Liophis williamsi, a small snake of Venezuelan cloud forest. It is pointed out in discussion that hemipenial variation among the Xenodontini is much greater than has been indicated in the literature, and that the tribe is based essentially on a single character - the paired apical discs, which may have been lost in some populations but which are accepted as a defining synapomorphy pending further study. Defensive neck flattening or hood display is widespread in the Xenodontini, having been recorded for at least five of the six genera currently assigned, and seems to provide a behavioral synapomorphy that corroborates the validity of the group. North American snakes of the genus Heterodon also flatten their necks and have been compared morphologically with some Xenodontini; a relationship between Xenodon and South American Hydrodynastes, another genus of neck spreaders, also has been suggested. Heterodon and Hydrodynastes have relatively primitive hemipenes and cannot be included in the Xenodontini. The hypothesis that one genus or the other is a sister group of the Xenodontini deserves to be tested by morphological criteria - although this seems to be strongly contraindicated by immunological distance data. Neck spreading therefore may have evolved several times within the subfamily Xenodontinae"--P. [1].Item Epipedobates simulans, a new cryptic species of poison frog from southeastern Peru, with notes on E. macero and E. petersi (Dendrobatidae). American Museum novitates ; no. 3238(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 1998) Myers, Charles W.; Rodríguez, Lily O.; Icochea, Javier."Epipedobates simulans is a new species of dendrobatid poison frog from humid forest at the base of the eastern Andes (400-600 m elev.) in the upper Madre de Dios drainage of southeastern Peru. It is very similar to Epipedobates petersi (Silverstone), a composite species that included specimens of E. simulans in the type series. Although similar in color and morphology, these species have allopatric distributions and very different vocalizations. The advertisement call of Epipedobates petersi is shown to be extraordinarily variable. The call may be produced in trains of single, double, or triple notes, with occasional groups of four notes, all at a frequency below 4000 Hz. The call of Epipedobates simulans is a continuous train of single, well-spaced notes given above or mostly above 4000 Hz. Epipedobates simulans is geographically closer to E. macero Rodríguez and Myers, which also has been confused with E. petersi. The range of E. macero is extended northward from the Río Madre de Dios basin to the upper Río Purús near the Brazilian border"--P. [1].Item Frogs of the Eleutherodactylus biporcatus group (Leptodactylidae) of Central America and northern South America, including rediscovered, resurrected, and new taxa. American Museum novitates ; no. 3357(New York, NY : American Museum of Natural History, 2002) Savage, Jay Mathers.; Myers, Charles W.A revision of the broad-headed frogs of the biporcatus species group of Eleutherodactylus s.l. has a wholly unexpected nomenclatural consequence. Eleutherodactylus biporcatus (W. Peters, 1863) is not from "Veragua" (western Panama) as originally thought, but is the proper name for the Venezuelan frog heretofore known as E. maussi (Boettger, 1893). Three names are resurrected from synonymy for Central American species currently masquerading under the misapplied name biporcatus, and a fourth species is described as new: (1) The rediscovery of Eleutherodactylus gulosus (Cope, 1875) shows it to be a large montane frog occupying an apparently small range in the borderland of Costa Rica and Panama. (2) Eleutherodactylus rugosus (W. Peters, 1863) is a smaller species occurring on the Pacific versant of southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama; Lithodytes pelviculus Cope and L. florulentus Cope are synonyms of E. rugosus. (3) Eleutherodactylus megacephalus (Cope, 1875), an intermediate-sized frog ranging from Honduras to central Panama, is the more common species to which the name biporcatus has usually been applied. Available material from the western half of the Isthmus of Panama was too sparse to decide if another (unnamed) species is being included under the name megacephalus. (4) The name biporcatus also has been used for Eleutherodactylus opimus, new species, which occurs from central Panama to western Colombia. Based on the condition of the m. adductor mandibulae, the Venezuelan Eleutherodactylus biporcatus s.s. (E. maussi, auctorum) belongs to the Middle American clade of Eleutherodactylus (subgenus Craugaster). However, preliminary data on karyotypes, as well as morphological differences, cast doubt on the closeness of E. biporcatus to the other species studied. The monophyly of the "biporcatus group" therefore remains to be tested.Item Frogs of the fitzingeri group of Eleutherodactylus in eastern Panama and Chocoan South America (Leptodactylidae). Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 175, article 5([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 1983) Lynch, John D.; Myers, Charles W."Based on field data and on examination of more than 3000 preserved specimens, species limits and distributions are defined for the frogs currently assigned to the fitzingeri group of Eleutherodactylus in the Chocoan lowlands (mainly below 1000 m. elev. in eastern Panama, western Colombia, and western Ecuador). Several of the species are abundant, ecologically important animals that have been repeatedly confused in the literature. Nine species are treated in detail and described and illustrated from living as well as preserved material, with natural history notes added where possible. Eleutherodactylus achatinus (Boulenger) occurs from Panama south to southwestern Ecuador; the names E. brederi Dunn and Hylodes pagmae are assigned to its synonymy (although brederi might yet prove to be a valid sibling species with a different call). Eleutherodactylus caprifer Lynch is known from west-central Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. These two species lack appreciable toe webbing. The following four species have moderate toe webbing: Eleutherodactylus fitzingeri (O. Schmidt) occurs from Nicaragua to west-central Colombia, being here treated primarily in the southern part of its range, where it has been confused with Eleutherodactylus raniformis (Boulenger)--a larger frog that occurs from eastern Panama south to west-central Colombia. Eleutherodactylus longirostris (Boulenger) occurs from the Darién highlands of extreme eastern Panama throughout western Colombia to southern Ecuador. All previous reports of longirostris in lower Central America seem to have been based on specimens either of fitzingeri or especially of Eleutherodactylus crassidigitus Taylor, whose range is extended out of Costa Rica and throughout the Isthmus of Panama to the Colombian border. However, the variation of crassidigitus remains inadequately studied and the redefined species might be a composite. E. crassidigitus differs from longirostris in color pattern, smaller size, and in a greater extent of toe webbing, although all specimens do not show these differences to the same degree. A closer relative (sister species) of longirostris may be the Central American E. talamancae Dunn. The remaining three species are streamside frogs having extensive toe webbing: Eleutherodactylus anomalus (Boulenger) is common in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Eleutherodactylus anatipes, new species, is known only from northwestern Ecuador, and Eleutherodactylus zygodactylus, new species, is described from west-central Colombia. The fitzingeri group of Eleutherodactylus is especially diverse in the Chocoan lowlands. At most localities in South America, only two or three species are ever sympatric, but west of the Andes as many as seven species of the group co-occur in geographic sympatry, with species density being greatest in the region of the Río San Juan drainage of Colombia. Natural history data are fragmentary. The vocalizations and/or calling behavior of several species have characteristics that may reduce the frogs' vulnerability to sound-responsive predators"--P. 484.Item Herpetofauna of the Yutajé-Corocoro massif, Venezuela : second report from the Robert G. Goelet American Museum-Terramar Expedition to the northwestern tepuis. Bulletin of the AMNH ; no. 261([New York] : American Museum of Natural History, 2001) Myers, Charles W.; Donnelly, Maureen A., 1954-; Goelet, Robert G. (Robert Guestier), 1923-; American Museum-Terramar Expedition (1994); American Museum-Terramar Expedition (1995)The Yutajé-Corocoro massif is a highly eroded sandstone table mountain, with internal drainage mainly to the central valley of the Río Corocoro, a stream in the headwater drainage of the Río Manapiare--some 100 km east of the middle Río Orinoco, at the northern edge of the State of Amazonas in southern Venezuela. The rocky soil supports a mosaic of diverse scrubland and forest, with small tepui meadows at the higher elevations. The herpetofauna is depauperate, as is typical of the Venezuelan tepuis. Eight species of amphibians and reptiles were collected during a 7-day period in the dry season (February). This sample includes two new frogs (Hyalinobatrachium eccentricum, n. sp., Centrolenidae; Colostethus undulatus, n. sp., Dendrobatidae) and a new genus and species of lizards (Adercosaurus vixadnexus, n. gen. & sp., Teiidae), all of which were found in humid montane mossy forest at 1700-1750 m elevation. Another new lizard (Tropidurus panstictus, n. sp., Tropiduridae) was discovered at lower elevations (180-1220 m), especially in dry scrub. The fauna also includes a widespread lowland frog (Pseudopaludicola llanera Lynch), two tepui frogs (Eleutherodactylus cantitans Myers and Donnelly; E. yaviensis Myers and Donnelly), a tepui lizard (Prionodactylus goeleti (Myers and Donnelly), new combination), a snake (Liophis?) that escaped capture, and another snake (Thamnodynastes corocoroensis Gorzula and Ayarzagüena) obtained by S. Gorzula in 1987. The two Eleutherodactylus and the Prionodactylus also occur on neighboring Cerro Yaví (the type locality), although one of the frogs (E. yaviensis) and the lizard show evidence of differentiation. Based on the original description, the snake Thamnodynastes corocoroensis appears to be distinct from a related species on Cerro Yaví. Two of the new species exhibit characters that are novel or not previously noted. The dendrobatid frog Colostethus undulatus, n. sp. has a glandular supracarpal pad atop the wrist, being best developed in males. This species, which also has the parasphenoid bone curiously concealed, seems to be unusual among tepui Colostethus in lacking the recently described median lingual process. The centrolenid frog Hyalinobatrachium eccentricum, n. sp. has a peculiar bicolored iris, with a dark median sector that conceals the pupil and which apparently dilates with the pupil. This character is retained in preservative and differentiates H. eccentricum from H. crurifasciatum Donnelly and Myers. Both species share a previously overlooked bubblelike structure in the web between the third and fourth fingers, herein termed bulla (possibly parasite induced?).Item The herpetological collection of Maximilian, Prince of Wied (1782-1867), with special reference to Brazilian materials. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 395)(American Museum of Natural History., 2015-06-26) Vanzolini, P. E. (Paulo Emilio); Myers, Charles W.; American Museum of Natural History. Department of Herpetology.Prince Maximilian of Wied made important collections of reptiles and other vertebrate animals during pioneering expeditions to Brazil and North America. These were purchased for the American Museum in 1869. The present paper emphasizes Brazilian materials collected in 1815-1817. Prince Maximilian (aka Wied, Neuwied, and Prince Max) published extensively on this collection, especially in the Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien ("Contributions to the natural history of Brazil, 1825-1833")--a meticulous account of the species collected--and in Abbildungen zur Naturgeschichte Brasiliens ("Illustrations of the natural history of Brazil, 1822-1832"). The unnumbered folio plates of the Abbildungen are so important, and so difficult to access, that the herpetological ones are resized and reprinted herein. These hand-colored plates are rare (only 300 of each were produced) and are reproduced herein "as is" with arbitrary plate numbers 1-56; this numbering approximates the organization of the present work and also the order of species presentation in volume 1 of the Beiträge. When received at AMNH, the herpetological specimens were accompanied by the Prince's handwritten manuscript list, dated 1860, with 441 numbered items. The list is not a specimen catalog but a useful index to the collection, as indicated by its title: Verzeichniss der Reptilien-Sammlung nach Duméril, Bibron, und Jan. It includes separately numbered lists of genera and of species in the collections and therefore corresponds to taxa, not to actual specimens. Wied did not designate types, a concept not yet established; Wied types, like Linnaean types, must be identified retrospectively. Our objective has been to identify the surviving types of Brazilian reptiles and amphibians in the Maximilian collection. Our starting point was forcibly the Beiträge, a work of singularly modern conformation. It may contain for each species a synonymy, a description, measurements, meristic data, and a discussion of distribution. The criteria for decision on the identification of types were fourfold: the description, the measurements, the scale counts, and the Abbildungen plates. A total of 21 primary type specimens were thus identified in the Wied collection (including some originally identified as types or cotypes). These include 15 holotypes (mostly newly identified) and six lectotypes (mostly newly designated). However, Wied had named about 61 species from his Brazilian collection, so approximately 40 primary type specimens of reptiles and amphibians are missing. Most of these never reached the American Museum; many had disappeared in Europe before Maximilian had started writing his 1860 manuscript catalogue. Wied wrote that he had been unable to preserve several specimens; some of the others may be in European museums or possibly in the remaining collection of his friend Blasius Merrem at the University of Marburg.
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