Part 8

Syrrhophus latodactylus: Martin, 1958:49 (in part).

Holotype.--UMMZ 101121, adult male from a cave near El Pachon, 8 km. N Antiguo Morelos, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 250 m., collected on March 13, 1949, by Paul S. Martin.

Paratopotypes.--(26). UMMZ 101122 (10), 101123 (2), 101126, 126993 (12).

Diagnosis.--Medium-sized frogs, males 22.8-28.4 mm. snout-vent, females 25.9-32.0 mm. snout-vent; vocal slits in males; digital tips greatly expanded, more than twice width of digit; first finger shorter than second; skin of dorsum shagreened to pustular, that of venter weakly to moderately areolate; toes webbed basally; dorsum light brown to tan with brown vermiculations; venter white; diameter of tympanum 53.9 to 64.2 per cent that of eye in males, 50.6 to 58.7 per cent in females.

Description and variation.--(Fig. 12). Head wider than body; head as wide or wider than long in males, sometimes longer than wide in females; snout acuminate in dorsal view, elongate and rounded in lateral profile; canthus rostralis rounded but distinct; loreal region slightly concave, sloping abruptly to lip; lips not flared; eyelid about two-thirds interorbital distance; length of eye less than distance between eye and nostril; diameter of tympanum 53.9 to 64.2 per cent that of eye in males, 50.6 to 58.7 per cent in females; tympanum round and distinct in both sexes; supratympanic fold moderately distinct; choanae within border of jaws, completely visible from directly below, rounded to slightly oval; dentigerous processes of prevomers and teeth absent; tongue free for posterior one-half, generally oval in outline; vocal slits present in males.

Many scattered pustules on dorsum; flanks areolate; skin of venter areolate or not (variability may be due to differences in preservation); ventral disc distinct on chest and lower abdomen; inguinal gland present or not, when present varying from very large and distinct to poorly defined; axillary gland absent.

First finger shorter than second; all fingers bearing truncate tips with pads, each pad having a terminal groove; fingers fringed; fingers three and four having dilated pads two to three times width of digit; subarticular tubercles large, conical, rounded, simple; supernumerary tubercles numerous on thenar surface, none on digits; three palmar tubercles, outer slightly smaller than largest supernumerary tubercles; row of tubercles on outer edge of forearm variable, weak to very distinct; tips of toes wider than digits, rounded to truncate at tips, each pad having terminal groove; toes having lateral fringes, bases of toes united by web, web not extending to basal subarticular tubercle; subarticular tubercles smaller than those of hand, round, conical, simple; supernumerary tubercles numerous on plantar surfaces, extending between metatarsal tubercles, present on toes between basal two subarticular tubercles in some specimens; outer metatarsal tubercle round, conical, one-half as large as ovoid, non-compressed inner metatarsal tubercle; tarsal tubercles or folds absent.

Ground color pale reddish-brown to tan dorsally, creamy on flanks; dorsal pattern consisting of reddish-brown to brown vermiculations extending onto flanks; distinct interorbital light bar present; loreal region darker than snout, reddish-brown compared to tan or pale reddish-brown; arms colored like dorsum; thighs banded, unicolor brown on posterior surfaces; shanks and tarsi banded; venter white to cream punctated with brown in some specimens.

The variation in proportions is summarized in Table 5.

Remarks.--Martin (1958) expressed some doubt that this series of 26 specimens was identical with "S. latodactylus." My study indicates that the specimens from El Pachon represent a distinctive but allied species. Males of the two species can be readily separated by the relative sizes of the tympani, presence or absence of vocal slits, and color pattern. Females of the two species can be separated by color pattern. Within the type-series, the pattern varies from weakly to strongly vermiculate but is always recognizable as vermiculate rather than spotted as in S. longipes (= S. latodactylus of Taylor and Martin).

Etymology.--The specific name is a patronym for David M. Dennis, whose drawings greatly enhance the worth of this paper.

Distribution.--Known only from the type series.

=Syrrhophus longipes= (Baird), New combination

Batrachyla longipes Baird, 1859:35, pl. 37, fig. 1-3 [Holotype.--apparently USNM 3237 (cited as 3207 by Cope, 1887:16), now lost, from 40 Leagues from (probably north) Mexico City; collected by John Potts]. Kellogg, 1932:107.

Epirhexis longipes: Cope, 1866:96.

Eleutherodactylus longipes: Kellogg, 1932:107 (part). Smith and Taylor, 1948:61. Lynch, 1963:580-581. Gorham, 1966:82.

Syrrhophus latodactylus Taylor, 1940d:396-401, pl. 43, figs. A-F, text fig. 7 [Holotype.--FMNH 100063 (formerly EHT-HMS 6807), from Huasteca Canyon, 15 km. W Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, 680 m.; collected on June 20, 1936, by Edward H. Taylor]. Smith and Taylor, 1948:50-52. Martin, 1958:48-50. Gorham, 1966:165.

Diagnosis.--Large frogs, males 22.1-33.2 mm. snout-vent, females 26.8-39.6 mm. snout-vent length; vocal slits lacking in males; digital tips greatly expanded (more than twice the width of digit); first finger shorter than second; skin of dorsum pustular, that of venter smooth; diameter of tympanum in males 61.1-87.2 per cent that of eye, 49.5-72.1 per cent in females; dorsum tan with large or small spots and blotches; limbs banded; interorbital bar or triangle present.

Remarks.--I have applied Baird's Batrachyla longipes to the frog Taylor (1940d) called Syrrhophus latodactylus because the color pattern (Fig. 13) predominant in the southern part of the range agrees with that described (figured) for Batrachyla longipes.

The color pattern of individuals in the southern part of the range of this species consists of large spots or blotches, whereas in the northwestern part the pattern is made up of smaller spots. In the northeastern part of the range, the pattern is more reduced and tends to consist of heavy flecking. The interorbital bar is narrower in specimens from Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas and is triangular in specimens from Hidalgo and Queretaro.

The status of the name Batrachyla longipes is currently that of a nomen dubium (Lynch, 1963). At that time, I was unaware of the geographic variation in color pattern in Syrrhophus latodactylus.

The exact type-locality of Batrachyla longipes is not known. If it is 40 Leagues north of Mexico City, the locality would be in an area where the species has a blotched instead of a flecked or spotted pattern. No justifiable evidence was presented to place Batrachyla longipes in Eleutherodactylus instead of Syrrhophus. Barbour (1923) and Kellogg (1932) associated another species (E. batrachylus) with longipes. Taylor (1940a) noted this as a case of misidentification and corrected the error but left longipes in the genus Eleutherodactylus. Lynch (1963) noted several points of morphological agreement between Syrrhophus and B. longipes but did not place longipes in Syrrhophus.

Baird's (1859) figures of the holotype do not illustrate prevomerine teeth, but according to Cope (1866) they were present in the holotype. The digital tips of the frog in the figure are somewhat narrower than those typically seen in S. latodactylus. If the specimen was slightly desiccated, as possibly was the case, the digits would appear narrower. There is no evidence contrary to placing Syrrhophus latodactylus in the synonymy of Batrachyla longipes.

Application of Baird's name Batrachyla longipes to the species of frog heretofore called Syrrhophus latodactylus poses one serious problem. Batrachyla longipes is the type-species (by original designation) of the genus Epirhexis Cope, 1866, which has priority over Syrrhophus Cope, 1878. If Batrachyla longipes is left in the status of a nomen dubium, Epirhexis can be forgotten, for the two names are tied together. However, since it seems almost certain that Batrachyla longipes and Syrrhophus latodactylus are conspecific, the former name should not be left as a nomen dubium. Epirhexis never came into general usage (Cope cited the name four times, but no one else has used it), whereas Syrrhophus is well established in the zoological literature. It would serve only to confuse the literature to adhere strictly to the Law of Priority and replace Syrrhophus with Epirhexis. Therefore, Syrrhophus is used in this paper, even though Epirhexis has priority. A request for the suppression of Epirhexis Cope, 1866, has been submitted to the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature (Lynch, 1967).

Etymology.--Latin, meaning long-footed; Taylor's latodactylus refers to the wide digital pads.

Distribution.--Moderate elevations (650 to 2000 meters) along the Sierra Madre Oriental from central Nuevo Leon to northern Hidalgo, Mexico (Fig. 14).

Specimens examined.--(122) MEXICO, Hidalgo: 3 km. NE Jacala, AMNH 52977; 9.6 km. NE Jacala, 1800 m., TCWC 10966-70, 12179; 8 km. S Jacala, La Placita, 1850 m., FMNH 100266-68, 103244, UIMNH 13291, 13327. Nuevo Leon: Salto Cola de Caballo, KU 92572; Huasteca Canyon, 15 km. W Monterrey, 680 m., FMNH 100063 (holotype of S. latodactylus), UIMNH 13290; 6.5 km. N Pablillo, EAL 1319; Sabinas Hidalgo, USNM 139728. Queretaro: Cueva de los Riscos, 8 km. SW Jalpan, KU 106300. San Luis Potosi: 13 km. E Santa Barberita, LSUMZ 2295; second camp, San Luis Potosi road, UIMNH 13326; Xilitla, Cueva sin nombre, UMMZ 125892. Tamaulipas: 4 km. W El Carrizo, 500 m., UMMZ 111343 (31); 8 km. N Chamal, Bee Cave, KU 106299; 14.5 km. NNW Chamal, 420 m., UMMZ 111339-40, 111342 (4), 111344 (11); 19 km. NNW Chamal, 700 m., UMMZ 111341 (3); El Chihue, 1880 m., UMMZ 111289 (4); 11 km. N Gomez Farias, 1060 m., UMMZ 101166; 11 km. WNW Gomez Farias, 1800 m., UMMZ 108507 (3); 8 km. NW Gomez Farias, 1060-1400 m., LSUMZ 11085, UMMZ 101167 (3), 101168 (4), 101169 (2), 101170 (3), 101171 (2), 101360-61, 102860, 102933 (4), 102934 (2), 102935-38, 102939 (2), 102940-43, 108800 (3), 110735, 111345-46.

=Syrrhophus pipilans= Taylor