Reassessment of the taxonomic status of the genera Ischnocnema Reinhardt and Lütken, 1862 and Oreobates JiménezdelaEspada, 1872, with notes on the synonymy of Leiuperus verrucosus Reinhardt and Lütken, 1862 (Anura: Leptodactylidae)
Author
Caramaschi, Ulisses
Author
Canedo, Clarissa
text
Zootaxa
2006
1116
43
54
journal article
50791
10.5281/zenodo.171643
55124e22-1fc2-4b90-b6e5-4dd69fd2796f
11755326
171643
Genus
Ischnocnema
Reinhardt and Lütken, 1862
Based on a single specimen (currently ZMK 1180),
Reinhardt and Lütken (1862)
described a new species,
Leiuperus verrucosus
, from near Juiz de
Fora
, State of Minas Gerais, Southeastern
Brazil
. In a postscript to the same paper, however, the authors proposed a new genus,
Ischnocnema
, to accomodate that species, under the combination
Ischnocnema verrucosa
. For a summary of the taxonomic history and redescription of this species, see
Lynch (1972)
.
With the synonymization of
Oreobates
JiménezdelaEspada, 1872 to
Ischnocnema
, this genus also included
I. quixensis
(JiménezdelaEspada, 1872), as reviewed by
Lynch and Schwartz (1971)
. Later,
Lynch (1974)
,
Duellman (1990)
,
Harvey and Keck (1995)
, and
Padial et al. (2005)
described
I. simmonsi
,
I. saxatilis
,
I. sanctaecrucis
, and
I. sanderi
, respectively, completing the six species currently recognized in the genus.
The genus
Ischnocnema
was distinguished from
Eleutherodactylus
by Lynch (1971, 1972) and
Lynch and Schwartz (1971)
mainly on basis of the shape of the distal phalanges: Tshaped in
Eleutherodactylus
, and knobbed in
Ischnocnema
. The other characters listed for
Ischnocnema
by Lynch (1971) are included in the variation of
Eleutherodactylus
characters, except by the anterior rami of pterygoids reaching the neopalatines in
Ischnocnema
.
Lynch and Schwartz (1971)
examined only specimens of
I. quixensis
, but Lynch (1971, 1972) also examined the
holotype
of
I. verrucosa
, although apparently did not observe the condition of its phalanx. Osteological characters listed by Lynch (1971) to the genus
Ischnocnema
were observed by the author in
I. quixensis
, the sole species of this genus cleared and stained in his work. The osteological features herein observed in
I. verrucosa
agree with that attributed to
Eleutherodactylus
by Lynch (1971) but not with that attributed to
Ischnocnema
by this author. These findings permit the association of
I. verrucosa
,
type
species of the genus
Ischnocnema
, with the genus
Eleutherodactylus
.