Julianus is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

tree frog A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia suborder have given rise to treefrogs, although they are not clos ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as " tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

. (''Julianus'', new genus, p. 28).

Species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the genus are found in southeastern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, and northeastern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. This genus is considered poorly defined and is regarded by most to merely be a synonym of ''

Scinax ''Scinax'' is a genus of frogs, commonly known as snouted treefrogs, in the family Hylidae. The genus is found from eastern and southern Mexico to Argentina and Uruguay, and in Trinidad and Tobago, and Saint Lucia. Member species A speci ...

''. This genus is named after Julián Faivovich, who has contributed a notable amount of knowledge to the study of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n tree frogs. It was created because '' Scinax uruguayus'' differed from other ''Scinax'' in the

larval A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

oral disc morphology. More specifically, the

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

has two keratinized and pigmented plates on the lower jaw sheath, along with the posterior marginal

papillae Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Papilla (worms), small bumps on the surface of certain worms * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * De ...

being larger than the papillae on the lateral margins. The species '' Julianus pinimus'' was later added to this genus due to having similar features. However, other papers claim that these frogs are not distinct enough to be grouped into an entirely different genus and should be readded to ''Scinax''. This is because many of the characteristics used to define this genus are shared by other members of ''Scinax'' as well.

Species

There are two species in the genus ''Julianus''.''J. uruguayus'' is known from

Treinta y Tres Treinta y Tres () is the capital city of the Treinta y Tres Department in eastern Uruguay. It is known for its role in the development of folk music. History Its name means "Thirty Three" and refers to the 19th-century national heroes, the Thirty ...

, Cerro Largo, and

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guaraní language, Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. History On 24 October 1831, a presidential decree by Fructuoso Rivera ordered the cr ...

, along with Santa Catarina,

, and

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragui, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

. It may also occur in parts of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, but this is unconfirmed. ''J. pinimus'' is only known from a single locality in

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

References

Dendropsophini Amphibian genera Frogs of Brazil Taxa described in 2016 {{Hylidae-stub