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Ceratophrys cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758)
Rana cornuta Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., Ed. 10, 1: 212. Type(s): Including frog figured by Seba, 1734, Locuplet. Rer. Nat. Thesaur. Descript. Icon. Exp. Univ. Phys. Hist., 1: pl. 72, figs. 1-2. (See Seba, 1734, Locuplet. Rer. Nat. Thesaur. Descript. Icon. Exp. Univ. Phys. Hist., 1 for image of NHRM type.) Type locality: "Virginia"; in error.
Bufo cornutus — Laurenti, 1768, Spec. Med. Exhib. Synops. Rept.: 25.
Buffo cornuta — Lacépède, 1788, Hist. Nat. Quadrup. Ovip. Serpens, 16mo ed., 2: 367, 461; Lacépède, 1788, Hist. Nat. Quadrup. Ovip. Serpens, Quarto ed., 1: table after page 618, and referencing account starting on page 603.
Pipa cornata — Oken, 1816, Lehrb. Naturgesch., 3(2): 211.
Rana megastoma Spix, 1824, Animal. Nova Spec. Nov. Test. Ran. Brasil.: 27. Syntypes: Not specifically designated, although including animal figured in pl. 4, fig. 1 of the original and at least 2 specimens originally in ZSM; the remaining syntype, ZSM 1056/0 designated lectotype by Hoogmoed and Gruber, 1983, Spixiana, München, Suppl., 9: 358. See comments by Glaw and Franzen, 2006, Spixiana, München, 29: 175. Type locality: "juxta flumen Solimoens"; corrected to "Castro de Avelães, the present Amatura, on the right margin of the Solimões at 03° 29′ S, 68° 06′ W", Brazil, by Vanzolini, 1981, in Adler (ed.), Herpetol. Brazil Spix and Wagler: xxvi. Synonymy with Ceratophrys daudini Cuvier by Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 440. Synonymy by Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 82 (with Phrynoceros vaillanti); Peters, 1872, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1872: 204; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 224.
Ceratophrys Sebae Gray, 1825, Ann. Philos., London, Ser. 2, 10: 214. Substitute name for Rana cornuta Linnaeus, 1758.
Stombus cornutus — Gravenhorst, 1825, Isis von Oken, 1825: 921; Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 436.
Stombus megastomus — Gravenhorst, 1825, Isis von Oken, 1825: 921.
Ceratophris spixii Cuvier, 1829, Regne Animal., Ed. 2, 2: 106. Substitute name for Rana megastoma Spix.
Ceratophris daudini Cuvier, 1829, Regne Animal., Ed. 2, 2: 106. Holotype: Not stated, based on "Daudin, xxxviii" (not Daudin, 1802—DRF); MNHNP 692, according to Guibé, 1950 "1948", Cat. Types Amph. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat.: 26. Type localities: Not stated; given as Surinam, Guiana, by Gorham, 1966, Das Tierreich, 85: 37. Nomen nudum. Synonymy by Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 224.
Ceratophrys megastoma — Wagler, 1830, Nat. Syst. Amph.: 204; Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 25.
Ceratophrys cornuta — Schlegel, 1837, Abbild. Neuer Unvollst. Amph., 1: 29.
Phrynoceros vaillanti Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 44, 82. Types: Not designated, presumably MHNN. Type locality: "Surinam". Synonymy with Ceratophrys daudini by Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 440. Synonymy by Peters, 1872, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1872: 204; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 224.
Ceratophrys cornuta — Peters, 1872, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1872: 204.
Ceratophrys testudo Andersson, 1945, Ark. Zool., 37A(2): 22. Holotype: NHRM 1912, according to Mercadal de Barrio, 1988, Amphibia-Reptilia, 9: 1. Type locality: "Rio Pastaza, Watershed", eastern Ecuador. Synonymy by Lynch, 1982, Syst. Zool., 31: 166-179; Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: 108.
Ceratophrys (Stombus) cornuta — Lynch, 1982, Syst. Zool., 31: 166-179.
Stombus cornutus — Dubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 177.
Common Names
Horned Pac-Man Frog (Guayasamin, Cisneros-Heredia, McDiarmid, Peña, and Hutter, 2020, Diversity, 12 (222): 245; Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: xxx).
Sapo Pacman de Cuernos (Spanish: Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: xxx).
Horned Frog (Wood, 1863, Illust. Nat. Hist., 3: 160).
Horned Toad (Lacépède, 1802, Nat. Hist. Ovip. Quadruped. (Kerr transl.): 316).
Bell's Ceratophrys (Cochran, 1961, Living Amph. World: 77).
Amazonian Horned Frog (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 78).
Surinam Horned Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 71).
Ecuador Horned Frog (Ceratophrys testudo [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 71).
Distribution
Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and the Guianas, including northeastern Venezuela (Delta Amacura and Bolívar states).
Geographic Occurrence
Natural Resident: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
Comment
See accounts by Rivero, 1961, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 126: 86; and Cochran and Goin, 1970, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 288: 366-368, Duellman, 1978, Misc. Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas, 65: 85–86 (including a brief description of the tadpole), and Rodríguez and Duellman, 1994, Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Spec. Publ., 22: 52–53, provided a brief account for the Iquitos region of northeastern Peru. Márquez, De la Riva, and Bosch, 1995, J. Zool., London, 237: 313–336, reported on vocalization in Bolivia. De la Riva, Köhler, Lötters, and Reichle, 2000, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 14: 39, provided the Bolivian citation. Lescure and Marty, 2000, Collect. Patrimoines Nat., Paris, 45: 200-201, provided a photo and brief account for French Guiana. Duellman, 2005, Cusco Amazonico: 263–265, provided an account (adult and larval morphology, description of the call, life history). Bernarde, Machado, and Turci, 2011, Biota Neotrop., 11: 117–144, reported specimens from Reserva Extrativista Riozinho da Liberdade, Acre, Brazil. See comment under Ceratophrys calcarata. See account for Suriname population by Ouboter and Jairam, 2012, Amph. Suriname: 84-87. See Cole, Townsend, Reynolds, MacCulloch, and Lathrop, 2013, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 125: 385, for brief account and records for Guyana. Faivovich, Nicoli, Blotto, Pereyra, Baldo, Barrionuevo, Fabrezi, Wild, and Haddad, 2014, S. Am. J. Herpetol., 9: 207–227, suggested that this species is the sister taxon of Ceratophrys calcarata. See Barrio-Amorós, Rojas-Runjaic, and Señaris Vasquez, 2019, Amph. Rept. Conserv., 13 (1: e180): 28, for comments on range, taxonomy, and literature. For identification of larvae in central Amazonia, Brazil, see Hero, 1990, Amazoniana, 11: 201–262. See brief account for the Manu region, Peru, by Villacampa-Ortega, Serrano-Rojas, and Whitworth, 2017, Amph. Manu Learning Cent.: 52–53. Metcalf, Marsh, Torres Pacaya, Graham, and Gunnels, 2020, Herpetol. Notes, 13: 753–767, reported the species from the Santa Cruz Forest Reserve, Loreto, northeastern Peru. Rojas-Runjaic, Palomera García, and Blanco Márquez, 2021, Herpetol. Notes, 14: 461–464, provided records from northeastern Venezuela and discussed the range. Taucce, Costa-Campos, Carvalho, and Michalski, 2022, Eur. J. Taxon., 836: 96–130, reported on distribution, literature, and conservation status for Amapá, Brazil. Schiesari, Rossa-Feres, Menin, and Hödl, 2022, Zootaxa, 5223: 36–37, detailed larval morphology and natural history in central Amazonia, Brazil. Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: 104–109, provided an account, with photographs, which summarized identification, adult and larval morphology, systematics, natural history, distribution (including a dot map for Ecuador), conservation, and (on p. 391) vocalization. They also discussed the status of Ceratophrys testudo and its synonymy. Ceratophrys testudo had been resurrected from the synonymy of Ceratophrys cornuta by Mercadal de Barrio, 1988, Amphibia-Reptilia, 9: 1-6. Diagnostic features of nominal Ceratophrys testudo discussed by Perí, 1993, Alytes, 11: 107-116.
External links:
Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.
- For access to general information see Wikipedia
- For additional sources of general information from other websites search Google
- For access to relevant technical literature search Google Scholar
- For images search CalPhoto Images and Google Images
- To search the NIH genetic sequence database, see GenBank
- For additional information see AmphibiaWeb report
- For information on conservation status and distribution see the IUCN Redlist
- For information on distribution, habitat, and conservation see the Map of Life
- For related information on conservation and images as well as observations see iNaturalist
- For additional information specific to Ecuador see FaunaWebEcuador: Anfibios del Ecuador