The tadpole ofScinax skuki(Anura: Hylidae) from the type locality, with a description of its larval skeleton

Treefrog Diversity in the Neotropics: Phylogenetic Relationships of Scinaxini (Anura: Hylidae: Hylinae)

“…In a study of the cranial anatomy of tadpoles of five species of Scinaxini, Alcalde et al (2011) noticed that chondrocrania and hyobranchial skeleton of the two species of the former Scinax catharinae group available to them, Ololygon aromothyella and O. berthae (here recovered as sister species), share the long and slightly divergent free portion of the cornua trabeculae, the long and thin processus articularis, the wide and rounded processus muscularis, the tripartite cartilago suprarostralis, slender lower jaw cartilages, a medially directed processus anterolateralis and ceratobranchialia III and IV joined by commissurae proximales. These observations partially ap-ply to the description of chondrocranium and hyobranchial skeleton of O. skuki by Rodrigues et al (2017), although in that species ceratobranchialia III and IV are not joined by a commisura proximalis. The generality of all these observations for other species of Ololygon requires corroboration.…”

“…Lima et al (2011) distinguished between these two species on the basis of the shape of the snout in dorsal view, the shape of the external metacarpal tubercle of adults, and different colorations on hidden areas of the inguinal region, thigh, tibia, and foot. Rodrigues et al (2017) Our results showed that Ololygon argyreornata as currently known corresponds to at least six distinct lineages throughout its distribution in Brazil (Fig. 20).…”

“…This includes (1) suprarostral with the corpora fused medially, forming a continuous V-open shape in frontal view; (2) corpus and alae fused to various degrees or (rarely) separated (joined by syndesmosis); (3) cornua trabeculae diverging distally forming a V in dorsal view; (4) processus quadrato ethmoidalis absent; (5) processus pseudopterigoideus absent; (6) commissura quadratoorbitalis absent; and (7) presence of a larval processus oticus. Chondrocrania are still known for few species of Scinaxini, and this characterization requires further elaboration, both from the perspective of character polarity—which was not discussed by Rodrigues et al (2017)—and because many character-states are known to occur also at least in Dendropsophini (e.g., 4, 5, 6; Dias et al, 2019) and Pseudini (e.g., 3, 6, 7; Alcalde and Barg, 2006).…”

“…These characters optimize ambiguously in the hypothetical ancestor of Scinaxini + Sphaenorhynchini because they are inapplicable for the latter (absence of pectoral folds and slip of the m. extensor brevis superficialis digiti III originating from the radioulna). Rodrigues et al (2017) presented a short characterization of Scinaxini (considering them as Scinax) based on the few described larval chondrocrania and hyobranchial skeletons. This includes (1) suprarostral with the corpora fused medially, forming a continuous V-open shape in frontal view; (2) corpus and alae fused to various degrees or (rarely) separated (joined by syndesmosis); (3) cornua trabeculae diverging distally forming a V in dorsal view; (4) processus quadrato ethmoidalis absent; (5) processus pseudopterigoideus absent; (6) commissura quadratoorbitalis absent; and (7) presence of a larval processus oticus.…”

“…Colaço and Silva (2016) did not recognize the taxonomic changes introduced by Duellman et al (2016), stressing that these authors ignored most of the data presented by Faivovich (2002). Conte et al (2016), Lourenço et al (2016Lourenço et al ( , 2019Lourenço et al ( , 2020, Rodrigues et al (2017), Faivovich et al (2018, Ron et al (2018), Baldo et al (2019), Barreto et al (2019), Dubois et al (2021), Lacerda et al (2021), Pezzuti et al (2021), and Segalla et al (2021) also considered Julianus and Ololygon junior synonyms of Scinax. In light of the shortcomings of the generic arrangement within Scinaxini proposed by Duellman et al (2016) that hinder its application, as well as its limited adoption in subsequent taxonomic studies, we follow recent authors in employing Scinax sensu Faivovich et al (2005) below and propose a revised taxonomy on the basis of our results (see "An evidence-based taxonomy of Scinaxini", below).…”