Leptodactylus Fragilis, The Valid Name For The Middle American And Northern South American White lipped Frog (Amphibia : Leptodactylidae)

2 Pages·2002·0.55 MB·English

by  W R Heyer

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
115(2):321-322. 2002.
Leptodactylusfragilis, the valid name for the
Middle American and northern South American
white-lipped frog (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae)
W. Ronald Heyer
Department of Systematic Biology, National Museum of Natural History,
Washington, D.C. 20560-0162 U.S.A., e-mail, [email protected]
—
Abstract. Leptodactylusfragilis (Brocchi 1877) is the valid scientific name
for the species of the white-lipped Leptodactylus that occurs from Texas, USA
to Venezuela. Cystignathus labialis Cope 1877 is not conspecific with L. fra-
gilis and is ajunior synonym of L. mystacinus (Burmeister 1861).
While creating graphics for nomenclatur- atypes of Cystignathus labialis Cope and
al changes in the genus Leptodactylus, I re-read Cope's type description. I find that
discovered that I had published a significant my 1978 statements are correct and sup-
and embarrassing error. I find no justifica- ported by the specimens and Cope's de-
tion for my error; the best recourse is to scription, including provenance of the
outline the facts and correct it. types. Among other features, the taxon for
In a treatment of the systematics of the which the appropriate name is Leptodacty-
Leptodactylusfuscus species group (Heyer lusfragilis does not have a pair of distinct,
1978), I concluded that the types of Cystig- continuous dorsolateral folds, whereas the
nathus labialis Cope 1878 were conspecific types of C labialis have such folds. The
with Leptodactylus mystacinus (Burmeister types of C. labialis Cope, 1877 certainly
1861) and relegated them to the synonymy did not come from Central America, as dis-
ofL. mystacinus. cussed previously (Heyer 1978:32).
In 1992, Dubois and Heyer stated that
Leptodactylusfragilis (Brocchi 1877) is,
Cystignathus labialis Cope represented the thus, the proper name to apply to the white-
same species as Cystignathusfragilis Broc- lipped Leptodactylus occurring from Texas
chi, 1877, which occurs from Texas in the to Venezuela. Cystignathus labialis Cope
United States throughout Mexico and Mid-
1877 is ajunior synonym of Leptodactylus
dleAmerica to northern ColombiaandVen-
mystacinus (Burmeister 1861).
ezuela. Dubois and Heyer (1992) docu-
Revalidation of Leptodactylus fragilis
mented that Cope's paper was actually pub-
(Brocchi 1877) is certainly an inconve-
lished in 1877 and predated Brocchi's pub-
nience. However, the impact will be feltpri-
lication.
marily by the professional herpetological
The critical and incorrect statement in
community, whichhas successfullyendured
Dubois and Heyer (1992:584) is:
usage changes for the taxon involved. Be-
"In a revision of the fuscus group, C. fragilis tween at least 1881 and 1933 most herpe-
Brocchi was shown to represent the same species tologists considered the Middle American
as C. labialis Cope (Heyer, 1978:31-32)." taxon to be conspecific with the West In-
Actually, I (Heyer 1978:31-32) argued dian species L. albilabris, which was the
that C. labialis Cope did not represent the older name (see Smith and Smith 1976).
same species as C. fragilis Brocchi. From 1934 until 1978, the name L. labialis
I have re-examined the holotype and par- was used for the taxon, L.fragilis was used
322 PROCEEDINGS OFTHE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
from 1978 until 1992, and L. labialis from Dubois, A., & W. R. Heyer. 1992. Leptodactylus la-
1992 until the present. bialis, the valid name for the American—white-
lipped frog (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae. Cop-
eia 1992:584-585.
Literature Cited
Heyer, W. R. 1978. Systematics ofihefuscusgroupof
Brocchi, P. 1877. Surquelques Batraciens Ranif—ormes the frog genu—s Leptodactylus (Amphibia, Lep-
et Bufoniformes d rAmerique Centrale. Bul- todactylidae). NaturalHistoryMuseumofLos
letin de la Societe Philomathique de Paris Serie Angeles County Science Bulletin (29):1-85.
7, 1:175-197. Smith, H. M., and R. B. Smith. 1976. Synopsis ofthe
Cope, E. D. 1877. Tenth contrib—ution to the herpetol- herpetofauna of Mexico, volume IV, Source
ogy of tropical America. Proceedings of the analysis and index for Mexican amphibians.
American Philosophical Society (preprint) 17: JohnJohnson, NorthBennington, Vermont,255
85-98. pp. (not consecutively numbered).