Descriptions of New Hylid Frogs From Mexico and Central America

Volume 17, No. 13, pp. 559-578, 3 pls. 17-19
Date, April 5, 1968
Volume 17, No. 13, pp. 559-578, 3 pls. 17-19 Published April 5, 1968
University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Biological exploration of México and Central America has revealed the presence of a diverse fauna, elements of which have undergone speciation in separate areas within the relatively small region. Some genera of amphibians, especially Eleutherodactylus and Hyla , are represented by many species having small geographic ranges in México and Central America. Most of the species of Hyla inhabiting the lowlands have been known to science for many years, and most of the novelties today are found in the less accessible highlands. No fewer than 19 new species of hylid frogs have been discovered and named from México and Central America in the past decade.
In the spring and summer of 1966 I studied hylid frogs in many parts of southern México and Central America; the field work was designed to obtain specimens and data that would resolve certain systematic problems. To a certain extent the studies were successful, but in the course of the work five previously unknown hylids were discovered; these are named and described in this paper. The only species described herein that I do not know in life is one of Plectrohyla that has been represented in museum collections for several years but was not obtained in my own field work.
In this paper I am presenting diagnoses, descriptions, and brief comments on the relationships of five new species and one subspecies. More exhaustive accounts will be included in a monograph, now in preparation, on the Middle American hylids.
For use of comparative material used in the preparation of this paper, I am indebted to Richard J. Baldauf, Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection (TCWC); Charles M. Bogert, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); James A. Peters, United States National Museum (USNM); Hobart M. Smith, University of Illinois Museum of Natural History (UIMNH); Charles F. Walker, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ); and Ernest E. Williams, Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). KU refers to the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. I am especially grateful for help in obtaining specimens and data to Linda Trueb, who accompanied me throughout México and Central America, where we were joined by John D. Lynch in Costa Rica and Charles W. Myers in Panamá. Linda Trueb offered helpful suggestions in the course of preparing the manuscript, and David M. Dennis skillfully prepared the illustrations which more accurately depict the frogs than my written descriptions; both of these persons have my thanks for their contributions.