Skeletal development and adult osteology of Hypsiboas pulchellus (Anura: Hylidae)

Abstract

Osteological and skeletal characters have long been proven to be particularly informative in taxonomic and systematic research. Furthermore, ossification sequences are assumed to be a potential tool to investigate developmental states and developmental modes of fossil and extant skeletal specimens. Herein, we provide a detailed account on adult osteology and skeletogenesis in the Montevideo treefrog, Hypsiboas pulchellus (Anura: Hylidae) based on evaluation of a series of cleared and stained specimens. A consensus sequence of ossification, i.e., the order of appearance of mineralized elements until early metamorphosis could be determined as (parasphenoid, presacral vertebrae I-VII, frontoparietal, exoccipital) – transverse processes of presacral vertebrae I-VIII – sacral vertebra – (humerus, radioulna, ilium, femur, tibiofibula, scapula) – (cleithrum, clavicle, coracoids, metacarpals, tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges, hypochord) – (prootic, angulosplenial, dentary, maxilla, premaxilla, squamosal). Comparing the state of mineralized elements in individual specimens, a number of skeletal elements, including the exoccipital, frontoparietal, parasphenoid and prootic, as well as elements of the shoulder and pelvic girdles, and the phalanges, were found to vary intraspecifically regarding the relative time of their ossification within the ossification sequence.