''Espadarana'' is a genus of glass frogs. They are found in Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama) and northern South America (Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador).

Etymology

The generic name ''Espadarana'' honors

Marcos Jiménez de la Espada Marcos Jiménez de la Espada (1831–1898) was a Spanish Zoology, zoologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, explorer and writer, born in Cartagena, Spain, although he spent most of his life in Madrid, where he died. He is known for participating i ...

, a Spanish zoologist. Among other things, he described the first centrolenid frog, '' Centrolene geckoideum'' in 1872. Moreover, the Spanish word ''espada'' means "sword", which can be associated with the

humeral spine humerus, Humeral spines are ventrolateral extensions of the humerus, humeral crista ventralis. These structures are present in the humerus of some frogs (anura (frog), anurans). The majority of anura (frog), anuran species that present humeral spi ...

s that adult male ''Espadarana'' have.

Description

The diagnostic characters of ''Espadarana'' include conspicuous

s present in adult males, as hinted in their name. There is moderate webbing between third and fourth fingers. The dorsum is lavender in preserved individuals and may have spots. Internal features include green bones (in live specimens), lobed liver covered by a transparent hepatic peritoneum, whereas the ventral

parietal peritoneum The peritoneum is the serous membrane forming the lining of the abdominal cavity or coelom in amniotes and some invertebrates, such as annelids. It covers most of the intra-abdominal (or coelomic) organs, and is composed of a layer of mesothe ...

is white in its anterior part and transparent in its poster part. The digestive tract is translucent. In terms of osteology, ''Espadarana'' possess

vomer The vomer (; ) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right maxillary bones. The vomer forms ...

ine teeth and

quadratojugal bone The quadratojugal is a skull bone present in many vertebrates, including some living reptiles and amphibians. Anatomy and function In animals with a quadratojugal bone, it is typically found connected to the jugal (cheek) bone from the front and ...

that is articulating with

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

Reproduction

In ''Espadarana'', males call while sitting on leaves or branches. The eggs are deposited on leaves over streams.

Species

The genus contains five species: * '' Espadarana andina'' (Rivero, 1968) * '' Espadarana audax'' (Lynch and Duellman, 1973) * '' Espadarana callistomma'' (Guayasamin and Trueb, 2007) * '' Espadarana durrellorum'' (Cisneros-Heredia, 2007) * '' Espadarana prosoblepon'' (Boettger, 1892)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q941847 Glass frogs Amphibian genera Amphibians of Central America Amphibians of South America