- What is Amphibian Species of the World?
- How to cite
- How to use
- Structure of the taxonomic records
- Running log of additions and changes, 2025
- Logs of changes and additions, 2014–2024
- What is the right name?
- Curator's blog
- History of the project, 1980 to 2024
- Comments on amphibian taxonomy relating to versions 3.0 to 6.2 (2004 to 2024)
- Scientific Nomenclature and its Discontents: Comments by Frost on Rules and Philosophy of Taxonomy, Ranks, and Their Applications
- Contributors, online editions
- Contributors and reviewers for Amphibian Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (1985)
- Versions
- Museum abbreviations
- Links to useful amphibian systematic, conservation, collection management, informational, and/or regional sites
- Links to useful FREE library sites
- Copyright and terms of use
Trachycephalus typhonius (Linnaeus, 1758)
Rana typhonia Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., Ed. 10, 1: 211. Type(s): Not designated, although UUZM 134 was considered the holotype by Lavilla, Langone, Padial, and de Sá, 2010, Zootaxa, 2671: 22. Type locality: "America", restricted by Lavilla, Langone, Padial, and de Sá, 2010, Zootaxa, 2671: 23, to "[likely] number 1, Kerkplein Street, Paranamaribo, Suriname" but possibly "Brouwershaven . . ., on the left bank of the Wajamo River, . . . about nine parasangs from Pramaribo". Synonymy in error with Hoplobatrachus tigerinus by Andersson, 1900, Bih. K. Svenska Vetensk. Akad. Handl., 26: 1–29, although subsequent workers (until 1989) followed Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph. Nat.: 207, to use this name for the species currently known as Bufo margaritifer; this synonymy discussed by Hoogmoed, 1989, in Fontenet (ed.), Treballs Ictiol. Herpetol., 2: 167–180; and Hoogmoed, 1990, in Peters and Hutterer (eds.), Vert. Tropics: 113–123. Lavilla, Langone, Padial, and de Sá, 2010, Zootaxa, 2671: 17–30, subsequently discussed the status and confusing history of this name and applied it to the species formerly known as Trachycephalus venulosus. Although nomenclaturally the name and its combinations end up in this synonymy all such references apply to specimens not of this species, another reason that nominal synonymies (as employed in ASW) should not be used as surrogates for names applied to particular evolutionary taxa (DRF).
Rana vesicaria Fermin, 1765, Hist. Nat. Hollande Equinox.: 15. Type(s): Not designated nor known to exist. Type locality: "Hollande Equinoxiale" (= Suriname). Synonymy by Lavilla, Langone, Padial, and de Sá, 2010, Zootaxa, 2671: 24. Placed on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Works by Opinion 660 (Dubois and Raffaëlli, 2012, Alytes, 28: 187–190).
Hyla viridi-fusca Laurenti, 1768, Spec. Med. Exhib. Synops. Rept.: 34. Type(s) By indication including frogs illustration by Merian, 1705, Diss. Generat. Metamorph. Insect. Surinam.: Pl 56. Largest specimen, and adult male on the lower center of this plate designated lectotype by Dubois, 1995, Dumerilia, 2: 58. Type locality: "Surinam". Considered a junior synonym of Rana venulosa Laurenti, 1768, by Gray, 1831, in Cuvier, Animal Kingdom (Griffith), 9—Appendix: 100, and Dubois, 1995, Dumerilia, 2: 58, as first revisor. (Note: although clearly a Trachycephalus, the frog illustrated could also be assigned to other species in the Suriname region—DRF.)
Hyla tibiatrix Laurenti, 1768, Spec. Med. Exhib. Synops. Rept.: 34. Syntypes: By indication including specimens figured by Seba, 1734, Locuplet. Rer. Nat. Thesaur. Descript. Icon. Exp. Univ. Phys. Hist., 1: pl. 71, fig. 1, 2. Specimen shown in fig. 1 of Seba designated lectotype by Dubois, 1995, Dumerilia, 2: 60. Type locality: Not stated; designated as Surinam by Rivero, 1961, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 126: 130. Synonymy with Rana venulosa Laurenti, 1768, by Günther, 1859 "1858", Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus.: 104; Peters, 1872, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1872: 219. Suppressed under the plenary powers for purposes of synonymy but not homonymy (see Anonymous, 1958, Opin. Declar. Internatl. Comm. Zool. Nomencl., 19: 169–200).
Bufo typhonius — Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph. Nat.: 207. Concept based on Seba, 1734, Locuplet. Rer. Nat. Thesaur. Descript. Icon. Exp. Univ. Phys. Hist., 1: pl. 71, fig. 6–8.
Hyla venulosa — Daudin, 1800, Hist. Nat. Quad. Ovip., Livr. 2: 17; Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille, 1801 "An. X", Hist. Nat. Rept., 2: 176; Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto: 35.
Hyla intermixta Daudin In Sonnini de Manoncourt and Latreille, 1801 "An. X", Hist. Nat. Rept., 2: 182. Holotype: Presumably specimen illustrated in fig. 3 on pl. 4 of Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto; Merrem, 1820, Tent. Syst. Amph. 170, cited, apparently incorrectly, pl. 4, fig. 4 (which is labeled Hyla variegata); presumably originally in MNHNP, but not recently confirmed. Type locality: Stated to be unknown; given as "Surinam" by Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto: 20. Synonymy with Rana venulosa Laurenti, 1768, by Dubois, 1995, Dumerilia, 2: 61.
Rana zebra ? var. venulosa — Shaw, 1802, Gen. Zool., 3(1): 124.
Hyla variegata Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto: 20. Type(s): Not formally designated, but including animal figured on pl. 4 of the original volume and the frog pictured in pl. 56 of Merian, 1705, Diss. Generat. Metamorph. Insect. Surinam., and specimens of Hyla viridifusca Laurenti, 1768. Type locality: "Surinam". Synonymy with Hyla viridifusca Laurenti by Daudin, 1802 "An. XI", Hist. Nat. Rain. Gren. Crap., Quarto: 20.
Rana meriana Shaw, 1802, Gen. Zool., 3(1): 133. Types: Description based in part on description and pl. (56) of series of treefrogs from Surinam by Merian, 1705, Diss. Generat. Metamorph. Insect. Surinam.: 56. Largest specimen, and adult male on the lower center of this plate designated lectotype by Dubois, 1995, Dumerilia, 2: 58. Type locality: "Surinam" and "Jamaica". Synonymy with Rana venulosa Laurenti, 1768, by Gravenhorst, 1807, Vergleich. Uebersicht Linn. Neuern Zool. Syst.: 432; Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 561.
Calamita tibicen Merrem, 1820, Tent. Syst. Amph.: 172. Types: Based on several references, including figures 1-3 in fig. 71 of Seba, 1734, Locuplet. Rer. Nat. Thesaur. Descript. Icon. Exp. Univ. Phys. Hist., 1: pl. 71, fig. 3 being the type of Hyla aurantiaca Laurenti, 1768). Dubois, 1995, Dumerilia, 2: 60, in order to stabilize nomenclature designated the lectotype of Hyla tibiatrix Laurenti, 1758, as the lectotype of Calamita tibicen. Type locality: America; restricted to Surinam by lectotype designation. Synonymy by XXX.
Hypsiboas venulosa — Wagler, 1830, Nat. Syst. Amph.: 201.
Auletris tibiatrix — Wagler, 1830, Nat. Syst. Amph.: 201.
Dendrohyas tibiatrix — Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 34, 74.
Osilophus typhonius — Tschudi, 1838, Classif. Batr.: 52, 89. Based on specimens of Rhinella margaritifera.
Cystignathus typhonius — Duméril and Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 6: 402. Not suggested as a new name and synonym of Rana fusca Schneider as posited by Heyer, 1978, Sci. Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles Co., 29: 30, but a new combination nomenclaturally based on Rana typhonia Daudin.
Leptodactylus typhonius — Fitzinger, 1843, Syst. Rept.: 31; Girard, 1853, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 6: 420. Based on specimens of Rana fusca Schneider.
Otilophus typhonius — Peters, 1871, Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1871: 403. Based on specimens of Rhinella margaritifera.
Oxyrhynchus typhonius — Jiménez de la Espada, 1875, Vert. Viaje Pacif. Verif. 1862–1865: 178. Based on specimens of Rhinella margaritifera.
Leptodactylus typhonius — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 246. Based on Rana fusca Schneider.
Bufo typhonius typhonius — Leavitt, 1933, Copeia, 1933: 8. Based on Rhinella margaritifera.
Hyla modesta — Mertens, 1952, Abh. Senckenb. Naturforsch. Ges., 487: 30.
Bufo (= Otylophus) typhonius — Cei, 1953, Arch. Zool. Ital. Torino, 38: 511. Based on specimens Rhinella margaritifera.
Hyla tibiatrix tibiatrix — Rivero, 1961, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 126: 127.
Trachycephalus typhonius — Lavilla, Langone, Padial, and de Sá, 2010, Zootaxa, 2671: 17.
Common Names
Merian Frog (Rana meriana [no longer recognized]: Shaw, 1802, Gen. Zool., 3(1): 133).
Lost Treefrog (Hyla intermixta [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 55).
Laurenti's Brown Treefrog (Hyla viridifusca [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 58).
Distribution
Known with confidence only from French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, but likely more widespread; reported from Amapá, Brazil. See the Trachycephalus "vermiculatus" record.
Geographic Occurrence
Natural Resident: Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname
Comment
See comment under Trachycephalus "typhonius". Lavilla, Langone, Padial, and de Sá, 2010, Zootaxa, 2671: 17–30, discussed the complex nomenclatural issues surrounding the identity of the name Rana typhonia Linnaeus, 1758, and assigned the name as a senior synonym of Rana venulosa Laurenti, 1768, thereby changing the name from Trachycephalus venulosus to Trachycephalus typhonius. See account for Suriname population by Ouboter and Jairam, 2012, Amph. Suriname: 200–202.See Cole, Townsend, Reynolds, MacCulloch, and Lathrop, 2013, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 125: 419–420, for brief account and records for Guyana. Weiler, Núñez, Airaldi, Lavilla, Peris, and Baldo, 2013, Anf. Paraguay: 81, provided a brief account, image, and dot map for Paraguay. Ron, Venegas, Ortega-Andrade, Gagliardi-Urrutia, and Salerno, 2016, ZooKeys, 630: 115–154, reidentified all specimens identified as Trachycephalus typhonius from Ecuador as Trachycephalus quadrangulum and Trachycephalus macrotis and suggested that the name Trachycephalus typhonius can be restricted with any confidence to Suriname and Guyana. 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: 31–32, detailed larval and metamorph morphology and natural history of nominal Trachycephalus typhonius from Amazonian Brazil (likely one of several unnamed species in the complex; see Trachycephalus "vermiculatus"). Lescure, Dewynter, Frétey, Ineich, Ohler, Vidal, and De Massary, 2022, Bull. Soc. Herpetol. France, 181(5): 1–17, confirmed the species in French Guiana. Crnobrna, Santa-Cruz Farfan, Gallegos, López-Rojas, Llanqui, Panduro Pisco, and Kelsen Arbaiza, 2023, Check List, 19: 445, provided a record from Ucayali Department, central-eastern Peru. but presumably this was written before the restriction of the name to the Guianas. Santos, Feio, and Nomura, 2023, Biota Neotrop., 23 (3:e20231486): 1–43, characterized tadpole morphology as part of an identification key to the tadpoles of the Brazilian Cerrado, although this may actually apply to Trachycephalus "vermiculatus" (DRF).
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