Chiasmocleis

Chiasmocleis
Chiasmocleis albopunctata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Microhylidae
Subfamily: Gastrophryninae
Genus: Chiasmocleis
Méhelÿ, 1904
Type species
Engystoma albopunctatum
Boettger, 1885
Species

36 species (see text)

Synonyms[1]
  • Nectodactylus Miranda-Ribeiro, 1924
  • Syncope Walker, 1973
  • Unicus de Sá, Tonini, van Huss, Long, Cuddy, Forlani, Peloso, Zaher, and Haddad, 2019
  • Relictus de Sá, Tonini, van Huss, Long, Cuddy, Forlani, Peloso, Zaher, and Haddad, 2018 "2019" – preoccupied by Relictus Hubbs and Miller 1972
  • Relictocleis Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021

Chiasmocleis is a genus of frogs in the family Microhylidae.[1][2] They live in tropical South America north and east of the Andes. English speakers call them humming frogs or silent frogs.[1]

Taxonomy

Scientists have trouble deciding where to put this genus because it looks like not all of these frogs have the same ancestor. As of mid 2021,[1] scientists agreed to put frogs that used to be in the genus Syncope into Chiasmocleis, but they also agreed to make three clades into subgenera:[1][3]

  • Chiasmocleis Méhelÿ, 1904
  • Syncope Walker, 1973
  • Relictocleis Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021 (syn. Unicus, Relictus)

Of these, Relictocleis is the most different from the other two.[3] Some scientists think it should be its own genus. Relictocleis gnoma would be its only species.[1]

small frog sitting on the ground
Chiasmocleis quilombola

Description

Chiasmocleis frogs have small bodies and small legs. The male and female frogs look different: Male frogs have darker chins, and some of them have spines. The frogs from the subgenus Syncope are even smaller and have fewer bones in their paws and tose. Relictocleis frogs are also very small.[3]

Ecology

Chiasmocleis live underground some or most of the time. They are hard to see against dirt or dead leaves. They only look for food on the surface for a few days during the time when they lay eggs. This is at the beginning of the rainy season. They live in both forests and open places.[3]

Species

small frog sitting on the ground
Chiasmocleis crucis

These species are in Chiasmocleis:[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Frost, Darrel R. (2021). "Chiasmocleis Méhely, 1904". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. "Chiasmocleis Méhely, 1904". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 de Sá, Rafael O.; Tonini, João Filipe Riva; van Huss, Hannah; Long, Alex; Cuddy, Travis; Forlani, Mauricio C.; Peloso, Pedro L.V.; Zaher, Hussam & Haddad, Célio F.B. (2019) [2018]. "Multiple connections between Amazonia and Atlantic Forest shaped the phylogenetic and morphological diversity of Chiasmocleis Mehely, 1904 (Anura: Microhylidae: Gastrophryninae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 130: 198–210. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.021. PMID 30347238. S2CID 53035320.