A New Hylid Frog from Central Veracruz

Abstract

IN a large herpetological collection recently brought from Mexico to the Kansas University Museum of Natural History by Mr. Walter W. Dalquest' is a single specimen of an undescribed frog. The specimen was discovered in an arboreal bromeliad in December at an elevation of approximately 5000 feet at Huatusco, Veracruz. Very few places in the world, if any, have a larger fauna of hylid frogs than Central Veracruz. Elevations occur from sea level up to heights beyond where frogs may exist. No doubt this varied elevation in part accounts for the diversified fauna. Five genera. and 20 species occur. The genus Hyla, as now recognized, is most prolific with 15 species already known, representing several distinctive groups. The other genera are Agalychnis with 2 species, Acrodytes with 1, Anotheca with 1 and Smilisca with 1. The species here described has, in common with Hyla bistincta and Hyla dalquesti,2 an elongate anal flap or tube that carries the vent to the ventral level or onto the ventral surface. On the basis of this character it seems probable that these three forms are more closely related to each other than to other members of the genus. Males of Hyla bistincta have a distinctive patch of nuptial asperities on first and second fingers. Since the specimen at hand is a female the species cannot be compared on this character.