Hyla staufferi staufferiCope, New Combination
Hyla staufferiCope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 17:195, October 1865 [Holotype.—USNM 15317, Orizaba, Veracruz, México; Francis Sumichrast collector], Brocchi, Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans L'Amerique Centrale, 1881, p. 36. Boulenger, Catalogue, of the Bratrachia Salientia s. Ecaudata, p. 400, February 1, 1882. Kellogg, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160:173, March 31, 1932. Smith and Taylor, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 194:88, 1948. Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 35:862, July 1, 1952. Rand, Fieldiana Zool. Chicago Nat. Hist. Mus., 34:518, April 18, 1957. Duellman, Univ. Kansas Publ, Mus. Nat. Hist., 17:274, June 17, 1966.Hyla eximia staufferiCope, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 32:14, January 16, 1887.Hyla eximia(part): Günther, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Reptilia and Batrachia, p. 261, June 1901. Nieden, Das Tierreich, Anura I, p. 245, June 1923.Hyla culexDunn and Emlen, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 84:24, March 22, 1932 [Holotype.—MCZ 16098, Tela Honduras; Raymond A. Stadelman collector]. Stuart, Misc. Publ., Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., 29:38, October 1935. Gaige, Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ., 457:293, 1936.
Hyla staufferiCope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 17:195, October 1865 [Holotype.—USNM 15317, Orizaba, Veracruz, México; Francis Sumichrast collector], Brocchi, Mission Scientifique au Mexique et dans L'Amerique Centrale, 1881, p. 36. Boulenger, Catalogue, of the Bratrachia Salientia s. Ecaudata, p. 400, February 1, 1882. Kellogg, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 160:173, March 31, 1932. Smith and Taylor, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 194:88, 1948. Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 35:862, July 1, 1952. Rand, Fieldiana Zool. Chicago Nat. Hist. Mus., 34:518, April 18, 1957. Duellman, Univ. Kansas Publ, Mus. Nat. Hist., 17:274, June 17, 1966.
Hyla eximia staufferiCope, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 32:14, January 16, 1887.
Hyla eximia(part): Günther, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Reptilia and Batrachia, p. 261, June 1901. Nieden, Das Tierreich, Anura I, p. 245, June 1923.
Hyla culexDunn and Emlen, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 84:24, March 22, 1932 [Holotype.—MCZ 16098, Tela Honduras; Raymond A. Stadelman collector]. Stuart, Misc. Publ., Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., 29:38, October 1935. Gaige, Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ., 457:293, 1936.
Diagnosis.—Small frogs (♂ to 29 mm., ♀ to 31.6 mm.); dorsolateral stripes irregular; paravertebral stripes usually broken; two or three transverse bars on shanks; thighs spotted or not; arms usually barred; interorbital bar usually present; toes about three fourths webbed; color brown, tan, or olive-green.
Variation.—Three hundred and sixty males chosen at random from throughout the range have snout-vent lengths of 20.7 to 29 mm. (25.9 mm.). The smallest individuals are from Costa Rica and Nicaragua (means 24.2 and 24.4 mm., respectively). The largest individuals are from Guatemala and El Salvador (mean of each 27.0 mm.). The ratio of the diameter of the tympanum to that of the eye is more than 60 per cent in most samples, but in those from Costa Rica and British Honduras it is smaller. The color pattern is highly variable. Some specimens are dark brown or pale brown in color. Incomplete dorsal stripes are present in 94.6 per cent of the specimens, and transverse bars are present on the shanks in 98.3 per cent of the specimens. The interorbital spot varies from transverse to longitudinal in position, and an irregular white line extends from the upper jaw to the arm in some specimens (Table 7).
Distribution.—Hyla staufferi staufferiinhabits savanna and subhumid and xeric forests in the lowlands and moderate elevations from southern Tamaulipas southward to Nicaragua on the Caribbean versant and from Guerrero, México to northwestern Costa Rica on the Pacific lowlands (Fig. 7). Duellman (1963:226) commented that a specimen from Chinajá, Guatemala, possibly was transported there in the cargo from Toocog, because with this one exception the species is unknown in tropical rainforest in Guatemala.
lity records
Fig. 7. Map showing locality records forHyla staufferi staufferi(circles) andH. staufferi altae(dots).
Specimens Examined.—México:Campeche: 5 km S Champotón KU 71296-7; 7 km W Escárcega, KU 71298-308; 13 km W, 1 km N Escárcega, KU 71309-10, 75090-4.Chiapas: 32 km S Arriaga, KU 57789-92; 4 km N Ixtapa, KU 5776-81; 3.6 km SW Las Cruces, KU 37740; 17 km S Las Cruces, KU 57793-4; 24 km S Las Cruces, KU 104160 (tadpoles); 11 km S Tapachula, KU 57782-8, 60000 (young).Guerrero: El Limoncito, near La Venta, KU 31392-401; Mexcala, near Balsa River, KU 31391; Organos, S El Trienta, KU 31390.Oaxaca: 26 km N Matías Romero, KU 33878-82; 2.5 km S Pochutla, KU 59924-7 (skeletons); 5 km S Pochutla, KU 57795-801; 3.2 km E Tapanatepec, KU 37877-902; 17.6 km WNW Tapanatepec, KU 65033-4; Temascal, USC 8243 (8); 3.2 km S Tolocita, KU 39657-8; 0.5 km Tuxtepec, KU 87073-81, 87610 (tadpoles); 17 km S Tuxtepec, KU 65035-7; 1 km W Zanatepec, KU 104161 (tadpoles).Quintana Roo: Isla Cozumel, 3.5 km N San Miguel, KU 71710-11 (young).San Luis Potosí: Valles, KU 31490.Tabasco: Teapa, UMMZ 118887 (3), 119203 (13); 9.6 km N Teapa, UMMZ 119202; 24 km N Teapa, UMMZ 119961 (5); 29 km N Teapa, UMMZ 119960; 3.5 km S Villahermosa, UMMZ 119201 (2); 17.6 km S Villahermosa, UMMZ 119200 (8).Tamaulipas: 1 km E Chamal, UMMZ 110706; Gómez Farías, UMMZ 110701 (3); 5 km SE Gómez Farías, UMMZ 110705; 8 km NE Gómez Farías, UMMZ 11282 (2), 11283 (3); Kilometer 615 between Río Limón and Llera, UMMZ 80455 (2); 5 km W San Geraldo, UMMZ 110702 (4), 110703 (3); 8 km W San Geraldo, near Río Frío, UMMZ 110704 (5).Veracruz: 3 km SW Boca del Río, KU 10494-8; 5 km SW Boca del Río, KU 23701; 5 km ESE Córdoba, KU 104162 (tadpoles); Cuautlapán, KU 57098-102, 26787; Hacienda Tamiahua, Cabo Rojo, KU 62871; 2 km ENE Mata Oscura, KU 105627; 5 km SE Paso del Toro, KU 40144; Portrero Viejo, KU 23911-2, 26786, 27413, 57094-7.
Guatemala:Alta Verapaz: Chinajá, KU 57769; Finca La Cubilquitz, UMMZ 90871, 90872 (5), 91379 (2).Baja Verapaz: 1 km S San Jerónimo, UMMZ 84077 (7), 84078 (14).Chiquimula: 1.6 km SE Chiquimula, UMMZ 98114 (2); Esquipulas, UMMZ 106784 (4), 106785 (14).El Petén: No specific locality, USNM 25143, 24825-6; La Libertad, FMNH 27096-7, KU 57770, UMMZ 75339 (15), 75340 (15), UMMZ 94341-2.Esquintla: 20 km N San José, AMNH 74369-76.Guatamala: 16 km NE Guatamala, KU 43539. Izábal: Puerto Barrios, TCWC 16671-73, 16646-56; 2.5 km NE Río Blanco, KU 57774-5.Jalapa: Jalapa, UMMZ 106788 (44).Jutiapa: Finca La Trinidad, UMMZ 107730 (12), 107731 (16); Jutiapa, UMMZ 106786 (2).Zacapa: 14 km ENE Mayuelas, KU 57773; 7 km ENE Río Hondo, KU 57771-2, 59999 (young).
British Honduras:Belize: Belize, FMNH 4406.El Cayo: San Agustín, UMMZ 80741 (8).Stann Creek: 10 km S Stann Creek on Hummingbird Highway, UMMZ 125720-1.
El Salvador:Cuscatlán: 7 km WNW Cojutepeque, TNHC 32004-10.La Libertad: 16 km NW Santa Tecla, KU 43540-1.La Union: 2.5 km Santa Rosa, TCWC 16669-70.Morazán: Dividendero, USNM 73288-92.San Salvador: San Salvador, FMNH 65101-06, KU 61932-44, 61989-92, 62152 (eggs), USNM 117588, 118391 (3), 118394; 1.6 km NW San Salvador, KU 43162-3.
Honduras:Atlantidad: Ceiba, USNM 117592.Choluteca: Choluteca, KU 85361-6; 2 km E Choluteca, UMMZ 118395 (7); 3.2 km NE Choluteca, KU 100500-01; 6.2 km E Choluteca, KU 65046-56; 10 km E Choluteca, KU 65045: 5 km S Choluteca, USC 2700 (4).Colón: Isla Guanaja (Islas de la Bahía), TCWC 21551, TNHC 32011.Cortés: Agua Azul, TCWC 19178-9; East side Lago Yojoa, KU 65038-44.El Paraiso: Valle de Jamastrán, AMNH 54800-04.Francisco Morazán: Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, AMNH 54963-73; 14.5 km NW Comayaguela, KU 100499; El Zamorano, KU 103224; 29 km N Tegucigalpa, TNHC 32003, 32012.
Nicaragua:Chinandega: Finca San Isidro, 10 km S Chinandega, KU 85311-33.Managua: 13 km E Managua, KU 85339; 2 km S Tipitapa, KU 85334-8.Rivas: 9.5 km SE Rivas, KU 85355-6; 18 km SE Rivas, KU 85354; 7.7 km NE San Juan del Sur, KU 85346-53; 16.5 km NE San Juan del Sur, KU 85340-5; 5 km SE San Pablo, KU 43151-61.Zelaya: Isla Grande del Maiz, KU 85357-60.
Costa Rica:Alajuela:Los Chiles, USC 7215 (2), 7217.Guanacaste: 4 km W Bagaces, USC 7019 (5); Finca Taboga, KU 102265-5; 12 km S La Cruz, USC 8091; Las Cañas, KU 41113 (skeleton); 27 km N Las Cañas, USC 8171 (5); Guardia, Río Tempisque, USC 8214; 10 km N Guardia, KU 102266-7; 1.6 km N Guayabo de Bagaces, USC 7023 (3); Liberia, KU 36510-22; 4 km W Liberia, KU 36449-64, USC 102 (10), 103 (9), 104 (7), 105; 6 km N Liberia. USC 8096; 8 km NNW Liberia, KU 65032; 14.5 km N Liberia, USC 8079, 8138 (2); 14.5 km S Liberia, USC 8238 (5); 6 km N Nicoya, USC 8229 (11); 4 km S Nicoya, USC 8230, 8231; Peñas Blancas, KU 102263; 8.6 km ESE Playa del Coco, USC 8137 (14); 21 km E Playa del Coco, USC 8138 (2); Santa Cruz, USC 8232 (2); 3 km E Santa Rosa, TCWC 16663-68; Tenorio, KU 32159; Tilarán, KU 36509.Puntarenas: 10 km WNW Esparta, KU 65022-9, 68614 (skeleton); 4.5 km WNW Esparta, KU 65030; 12 km WNW Esparta, KU 65031; 6 km E Esparta, KU 86477; Hotel Maribella, KU 32157-8; 3 km W Puntarenas, TCWC 16657-62.
Hyla staufferi altaeDunn, New Combination
Hyla altaeDunn, Occas. Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 8:61, June 7, 1933 [Holotype.—MCZ 17972, Summit, Canal Zone, Panamá; Emmett R. Dunn collector].Hyla culex: Stuart, Misc. Publ. Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., 29:38, October 1, 1935. Gaige, Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ., 457:293, 1936.Hyla staufferi: Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 35:862, July 1, 1952. Duellman, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 17:274, June 17, 1966.
Hyla altaeDunn, Occas. Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 8:61, June 7, 1933 [Holotype.—MCZ 17972, Summit, Canal Zone, Panamá; Emmett R. Dunn collector].
Hyla culex: Stuart, Misc. Publ. Univ. Michigan Mus. Zool., 29:38, October 1, 1935. Gaige, Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ., 457:293, 1936.
Hyla staufferi: Taylor, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 35:862, July 1, 1952. Duellman, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 17:274, June 17, 1966.
Diagnosis.—Small frogs (♂ to 26 mm., ♀ to 27 mm.); dorsolateral and paravertebral stripes complete; longitudinal dark gray stripe on shank; thighs unmarked; interorbital bar usually absent; toes about three fifths webbed; gray to brownish gray above.
Variation.—Hyla staufferi altaeis less variable in size, proportions, and color pattern than isH. s. staufferi. The size varies from 21.7 to 26 mm. (23.6) in 72 males. The ratio of tibia to snout-vent length is 0.42 to 0.50 (0.45), slightly less than in the northern subspecies. In color pattern 94.5 per cent of the individuals have complete dorsal stripes, and all have a longitudinal stripe on the shank (Table 7).
Distribution.—This subspecies is restricted to subhumid forests and savannas on the Pacific lowlands of Panamá.Hyla s. altaeis presently known to occur from Chepo in east-central Panamá through the Azuero Peninsula to Concepción, Chiriquí, in western Panamá (Fig. 7).
Specimens Examined.—Panamá:Canal Zone: No specific locality, TNHC 24406; 2.8 km SW Fort Kobbe, KU 101679.Chiriquí: 14.4 km E Concepción, AMNH 69799-801; 6.6 km N David, TNHC 32013-4; 2 km S David, AMNH 68802.Coclé: 1 km NE El Caño, KU 101662-75; El Valle de Antón, AMNH 59601-5, KU 77333-47; 7 km SSW Penonomé, KU 101654-61.Los Santos: Tonosí, KU 101246 (tadpoles), 101697-701.Panamá: 2 km WSW Chepo, KU 101680-8; 6 km WSW Chepo, KU 77324-27; El Cangrejo (Panamá), KU 101676-8; Nueva Gorgona, AMNH 69991, 69798; 1.5 km W Pacora, KU 77328-32; 2 km N Tocumen, KU 101689-95; 8 km NE Tocumen, KU 101696.
Evolutionary History
My assumptions regarding the evolutionary history of theHyla rubragroup in Central America were derived partly from interpretations of the evolutionary history of other animal groups (Simpson, 1943, 1965; Dunn, 1931b; Stuart, 1950; Duellman, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1965; and Duellman and Trueb, 1966). The origin and early evolution of the group probably occurred prior to the Mid-Pliocene in the lowlands of South America, because the greatest diversity of the group is in Brazil. Differentiation into two or more subgroups took place in South America prior to the late Pliocene. At the end of the Pliocene, shortly after the closure of the Colombian Portal, many South American animals migrated into Central America (Simpson, 1943, Maldonado-Koerdell, 1964, and Savage, 1966). It is likely that theHyla rubragroup entered Central America at that time; apparently two stocks (rubra-elaeochroa-staufferistock andboulengeri-foliamortastock) migrated into Central America.
Hyla elaeochroais closely related torubraand probably differentiated fromrubrathrough spatial isolation. Thus, we haveelaeochroain Central America andrubrain South America; most likely only in relatively recent times hasrubramigrated into eastern Panamá from northern South America. The differentiation and dispersal ofelaeochroaandstaufferitook place in Central America after the Pliocene. Probably the events of the Pleistocene resulted in the isolation of populations. One of these (Hyla staufferistock) was restricted in the subhumid Pacific lowlands, whereas theHyla elaeochroastock occupied the tropical wet forests of the Caribbean lowlands.Hyla elaeochroaapparently more closely resembled the parental stock by being restricted to the tropical rain forests, whereasstaufferiadapted to subhumid environments and thereby was able to disperse throughout most of the subhumid regions of Central America.
After geographical separation took place the initial genetic divergence between the two populations was maintained by means of ecological and ethological isolating mechanisms. Under these circumstances it can be supposed that the different ecological preferences ofelaeochroaandstaufferidepend on the climatic changes that took place during the Pleistocene. On this basis it may be proposed that when the original prototype broke up into the two incipient species, thestaufferistock became physiologically and behaviorally adapted to subhumid conditions and dispersed into dry areas of the lowlands of Middle America. The tropical evergreen forests on the Caribbean side of lower Central America and the uplift of the Talamanca range in the Pliocene were barriers to the dispersal ofstaufferi. Consequently, this frog dispersed along the Pacific lowlands.
At the present timestaufferioccupies the length of the Pacific lowlands in Central America, except in the rainforest of the Golfo Duce region, which apparently is a relict stand and now separates the ranges of two subspecies ofHyla staufferi. This species crossed the central Nicaraguan lowlands and reached the Caribbean lowlands of Nicaragua and nuclear Central America. The species migrated through the subhumid corridor in northern Honduras and eastern Guatemala (Comayagua Valley in Honduras and the Motagua Valley of Guatemala) to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Duellman (1960) hypothesized "that during the times of glacial advances (Pleistocene) the lowlands of the Isthmus probably were more extensive and had more semiarid tropical environments than at the present" and that when semiarid environments were continuous from the Pacific slope across the isthmus to the Gulf lowlandsstaufferiand other amphibians migrated northward to southeastern Tamaulipas, México.
Hyla elaeochroadispersed along Caribbean lowland routes. This species not only occurs in the wet forests of the Golfo Dulce region but also in Guanacaste. It is possible thatelaeochroaentered Guanacaste and moved to the Golfo Dulce region when the intervening area was less xeric than now (Duellman, 1966b).Hyla elaeochroaextended its range to eastern Nicaragua, but even though northeastern Nicaragua has over 2,000 mm. of precipitation annually (Vivo Escoto, 1964), this species has not spread into Honduras and Guatemala.
Hyla boulengeriis widespread in Amazonian and northern South America, whereasfoliamortaoccurs only in eastern Panamá and in north-central Colombia. The ancestralboulengeri-foliamortastock probably invaded Central America in the late Pliocene and dispersed through humid forested environments to Nicaragua. Apparently a peripheral population established itself in the dry Pacific lowlands of Panamá. This population differentiated fromboulengeriof the humid Caribbean lowlands and evolved intofoliamorta, which subsequently expanded its range into Colombia.
LITERATURE CITED
Blair, W. F.
Boulenger, G. A.
Brocchi, P.
Cochran, D. M.
Cope, E. D.
Daudin, F. M.
Duellman, W. E.
Duellman, W. E., andL. Trueb
Dunn, E. R.
Dunn, E. R., andJ. Emlen
Fouquette, M. J.
Gaige, H. T.
Gosner, K. L.
Günther, A. C. L.
Kellogg, R.
Laurenti, J. N.
Linnaeus, C.
Maldonado-Koerdell, M.
Nieden, F.
Noble, G. K.
Rand, A. S.
Rivero, J. A.
Savage, J. M.
Schmidt, K. P., andL. C. Stuart
Seba, A.
Simpson, G. G.
Smith, H. M.andE. H. Taylor
Starrett, P.
Stuart, L. C.
Taylor, E. H.
Vivo Escoto, J. A.
Transmitted February 7, 1969.