Trachycephalus typhonius (Linnaeus, 1758)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Hylidae > Genus: Trachycephalus > Species: Trachycephalus typhonius

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.  

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).

Central American Milk Frog (Spanish: Salazar-Saavedra, 2025, Rev. Nicaraguense Biodiversidad, 114: 21).

Distribution

Known with confidence only from French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana; records from Bolivia, Peru, and western, central, and southern and Brazilian Amazonia require confirmation (see comment). 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname

Likely/Controversially Present: Bolivia, Peru

Comment

 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. 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 nomina inquirenda under Trachycephalus). 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). Ocampo, Aparicio, Bernal Hoverud, Domic, and Wallace, 2024, Herpetol. Notes, 17: 371–389, reported the species and its habitat in Madidi National Park, La Paz, Bolivia. Crnobrna, Champagne, Williams, Turner, and Panduro Pisco, 2025, Biodiversity Data J., 13 (e154136): 1–42, provided records from along the Las Piedras River, Madre de Dios, Peru (although this identification requires confirmation–DRF). Rosa, Lingnau, and Garey, 2025, ZooKeys, 1264: 109–128, provided records from Iguaçu Nacional Park, Paraná, Brazil, although these records require genetic confirmation. Mendoza-Henao, Guerrero-Cupacán, Venegas-Valencia, and Gonzalez, 2026, J. Herpetol., 36: 59–71, reported on the phylogenetics and the species and suggested on molecular grounds that specimens identified as Trachycephalus typhonius from the western, central and southern Amazonian Brazil must be assigned either to Trachycephalus cunauaru or Trachycephalus resinifictrix. 

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.