Agalychnis Cope 1864

Agalychnis Cope, 1864

Agalychnis Cope. 1864:181. Type species: Agalychnis callidryas Cope, 1852, by original designation.

Pachymedusa Duellman, 1968. Type species: Phyllomedusa dacnicolor Cope, 1864, by original designation.

Definition. Medium-sized frogs (maximum SVL 47 mm in Agalychnis lemur [Boulenger] to 93 mm in A. spurrelli Boulenger); vomerine teeth present; palpebral membrane reticulated or not; tadpoles having moderately small oral discs directed anteroventrally.

Content. Thirteen species: Agalychnis annae (Duellman), buckleyi * (Boulenger), callidryas (Cope), dacnicolor (Cope), danieli * (Ruiz-Carranza, Hernández-Camacho & Rueda-Almonacid), hulli (Duellman & Mendelson), lemur (Boulenger), medinae * (Funkhouser), moreletii (Duméril), psilopygion * (Cannatella), saltator Taylor, spurrelli Boulenger, and terranova Rivera-Correa, Duarte-Cubides, Rueda-Almonacid & Daza.

Distribution. Tropical Mexico throughout Central America to western and Amazonian Ecuador and northern Peru.

Etymology. According to Duellman (2001), the generic name is derived from the Greek aga, an intensive prefix, and the Greek lychnis, a plant with scarlet flowers. Presumably the name refers to the red-eyed treefrog, Agalychnis callidryas, the type species of the genus. The gender is feminine.

Remarks. The inclusion of Agalychnis hulli (Fig. 15 C) and A. lemur (Fig. 15 D) in this genus is problematic, even though their respective support values (88% and 75%) are relatively high. Agalychnis hulli is an enigma inasmuch as it is a member of the “ Phyllomedusa buckleyi Group” as defined by Cannatella (1980) and exists in the Amazon Basin (Duellman & Mendelson 1995), whereas other members of the group live in cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes and Central American highlands. Agalychnis lemur is the only species in the so-called “ Phyllomedusa buckleyi Group” in our analysis. Molecular data are needed from A. buckleyi (Fig. 15 B), danieli, medinae, and psilopygion before the phylogenetic relationships can be clarified for a suitable classification.