Sphenophryne Peters and Doria, 1878

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Microhylidae > Subfamily: Asterophryinae > Genus: Sphenophryne
15 species

Sphenophryne Peters and Doria, 1878, Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, 13: 430. Type species: Sphenophryne cornuta Peters and Doria, 1878, by monotypy.

Genyophryne Boulenger, 1890, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1890: 326. Type species: Genyophryne thomsoni Boulenger, 1890, by monotypy. Synonymy by Rivera, Kraus, Allison, and Butler, 2017, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 112: 4. 

Liophryne Boulenger, 1897, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 6, 19: 11. Type species: Liophryne rhododactyla Boulenger, 1897, by subsequent designation of Parker, 1934, Monogr. Frogs Fam. Microhylidae: 152. Synonymy by Rivera, Kraus, Allison, and Butler, 2017, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 112: 4. 

Oxydactyla Van Kampen, 1913, Nova Guinea, 9: 464. Type species: Oxydactyla brevicrus Van Kampen, 1913, by monotypy. Synonymy by Rivera, Kraus, Allison, and Butler, 2017, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 112: 4. 

English Names

Land Frogs (Sphenophryne: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 92).

Toothless Frogs (Genyophryne [no longer recognized: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 89).

Distribution

New Guinea.

Comment

 Rivera, Kraus, Allison, and Butler, 2017, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 112: 1–11, provided a phylogenetic analysis of the Asterophryinae, and placed Genyophryne, Oxydactyla, and Liophryne into synonymy to render a monophyletic taxonomy.  

Revision of Sphenophryne in Zweifel, 2000, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 253: 1–130. Köhler and Günther, 2008, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 47: 353–365, suggested on the basis of molecular evidence that this taxon is the possible sister taxon of Liophryne dentata. Pyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543–583, confirmed this result.

Oxydactylus was removed from the synonymy of Sphenophryne by Zweifel, 2000, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 253: 74, where it had been placed by Parker, 1934, Monogr. Frogs Fam. Microhylidae: 152; Loveridge, 1948, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 101: 422. Revision of Oxydactyla in Zweifel, 2000, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 253: 1–130. Köhler and Günther, 2008, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 47: 353–ƒ365, suggested on the basis of molecular evidence that Oxydactyla is part of a monophyletic group containing Liophryne rhododactylaLiophryne dentata, and SphenophrynePyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543–583, came to a different conclusion; see comment under Liophryne.

Köhler and Günther, 2008, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 47: 353–365, suggested on the basis of molecular evidence that Genyophryne is relatively basal in the asterophryine tree and possibly the sister taxon of Liophryne schlaginhaufeniPyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543–583, confirmed this result.

Liophryne was removed from the synonymy of Sphenophryne by Zweifel, 2000, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 253: 56, where it had been placed by Parker, 1934, Monogr. Frogs Fam. Microhylidae: 152. Revision in Zweifel, 2000, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 253: 1–130. Köhler and Günther, 2008, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 47: 353–365, found Liophryne to be deeply polyphyletic, with Liophryne schlaginhaufeni to be near the base of Asterophryinae and Liophryne rhododactyla and Liophryne dentata to form a nonmonophyletic group with a monophyletic group with Oxydactyla and SphenophrynePyron and Wiens, 2011, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 61: 543–583, suggested that Liophryne schlaginhaufeni is the sister taxon of Genyophryne thompsoni and Liophryne rhododactylus is the sister taxon of a group composed of Liophryne dentataXenorhina obesa (rendering Xenorhina polyphyletic), Sphenophryne cornuta, and Hylophorbus rufescensDubois, Ohler, and Pyron, 2021, Megataxa, 5: 418, recovered Sphenophryne to be polyphyletic, one species, Sphenophryne schlaginhaufeni extending from near the base of asterophryines and a distant monophyletic group, composed of Sphenophryne cornuta, Sphenophryne crassa, Sphenophryne dentata, and Sphenophryne rhododactyla. In response to the chaotic non-monophyly of most of the asterophryine genera, these authors place all genera that they had sampled, other than Gastrophrynoides, into the synonymy of Asterophrys

Contained taxa (15 sp.):

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