The Skull of Phyllomedusa sauvagii (Anura: Hylidae)

RUIZ MONACHESI, M.; LAVILLA, E.O; MONTERO, R.

The Anatomical record

Wiley

Año: 2016

The hylid genus Phyllomedusa comprisescharismatic frogs commonly known as monkey, leaf or green frogs, and is themost diverse genus of the  subfamily  Phyllomedusinae,  including about  31  species. Although there  is  some information  about  the anatomy  of  these frogs,  little  is known about the osteology. Here the adultskull of Phyllomedusa sauvagii, both articulated and disarticulated, isdescribed and the intraspecific variation is  reported.  Additionally, cartilage  associated  with the  adult skull, such as thenasal capsules, auditory apparatus, and hyobranchial apparatus, are included inthe analysis. Further examination of disarticu- lated bones reveals theirremarkable complexity, specifically in the sphe- nethmoid  and of  the  oocipital region.  The  description of  disarticulated bones is usefulfor the identification of fossil remains as well as providing morphologicalcharacteristics that are phylogenetically informative. When comparing the skullmorphology with the available information of other species of the genus,Phyllomesusa sauvagii skull resembles more that of P.  vaillantii and  P.  venusta than  P.  atelopoides.