The powdered glass frog or Chiriqui glass frog (''Teratohyla pulverata'') is a

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

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), ...

in the

glass frog The glass frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae (order Anura), native to the Central American and Colombian rainforests. The general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some membe ...

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 ...

(Centrolenidae). The species is found from north-central

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

south to northwestern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

.Solís ''et al.'' (2010)Frost, 2014

Description

''Teratohyla pulverata'' is a small

, lacking

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 in males, and has a lobed bulbous

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

, placing it in the genus ''

Cochranella ''Cochranella'' is a genus of glass frogs, family Centrolenidae. They are found in Central America from Honduras southward to the Amazonian and Andean cloud forests of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Etymology The generic name (biology), ...

''. Adult males measure 22–24.5 mm from the

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...

to the

vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal *Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water ...

, while the females are larger at 25.3–28.3 mm snout-vent length. The snout is rounded if seen from above, but presents a distinctly sloped profile when viewed from the side. The translucent tympanum is visible but not large, measuring about one-fifth to one-fourth of the eye's diameter; the tympanic annulus is not hidden except for the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

margin, which is covered by the supratympanic fold.Guayasamin ''et al.'' (2008) Their color is green above, with a rich scattering of small, white spots – hence the species'

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

, which means "the powdered one". The back has a rough

shagreen Shagreen is a type of rawhide consisting of rough untanned skin, historically from a horse's or onager's back, or from shark or ray. Etymology The word derives from the French ' and is related to Italian and Venetian ''sagrin'', deriv ...

-like texture, particularly in males, where it is covered in tiny

spicules Spicules are any of various small needle-like anatomical structures occurring in organisms Spicule may also refer to: *Spicule (sponge), small skeletal elements of sea sponges *Spicule (nematode), reproductive structures found in male nematodes ( ...

. The belly is transparent and has a grained texture. Thus, the green

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

s and some

internal organ In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...

s can be observed in the living animal – particularly as this species' parietal (outer)

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 mesotheli ...

is completely translucent, too; the inner peritonea covering the liver and

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the Digestion, digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascula ...

are white. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

is greyish-white with tiny yellow dots and a network of thin, dark-grey lines; a thin cream-yellow ring surrounds the

pupil The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black becau ...

Melanophore Chromatophores are cells that produce color, of which many types are pigment-containing cells, or groups of cells, found in a wide range of animals including amphibians, fish, reptiles, crustaceans and cephalopods. Mammals and birds, in contrast ...

s are abundant on the dorsal surface of the fourth finger, but absent on the first three fingers. Preserved specimens are usually cream-colored to light

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...

above, with the spotting remaining white or becoming transparent. The dentigerous process of the

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 ...

carries two to four teeth. The males have a type-I

nuptial pad A nuptial pad (also known as thumb pad, or nuptial excrescence) is a secondary sex characteristic present on some mature male frogs and salamanders. Triggered by androgen hormones, this breeding gland (a type of mucous gland) appears as a spike ...

; the prepollex is concealed. The

toe Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plantigrade''; ...

s and most fingers of ''C. pulverata'' are webbed; the webbing between the first two fingers (which are of equal length) is absent or vestigial, however. The webbing formula for the outer fingers is II (1⁺-1^1/3) – (2^4/5-3⁻) III (1^1/3-1^2/3) – (1⁺-2⁻) IV; for the toes, it is I (1⁻-1) – (1^2/3-2⁻) II (1⁻-1) – (1^3/4-2⁻) III (1-1⁺) – (1^2/3-2⁺) IV (2⁻-2⁺) – (1⁻-1⁺) V. The discs at the finger and toe tips are small, about the size of the eardrum on the third finger. This species has no

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projectio ...

s on the

thigh In anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone tissu ...

s; the

metacarpus In human anatomy, the metacarpal bones or metacarpus, also known as the "palm bones", are the appendicular skeleton, appendicular bones that form the intermediate part of the hand between the phalanges (fingers) and the carpal bones (wrist, wris ...

ulna The ulna or ulnar bone (: ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone in the forearm stretching from the elbow to the wrist. It is on the same side of the forearm as the little finger, running parallel to the Radius (bone), radius, the forearm's other long ...

metatarsus The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges ( toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are ...

, and tarsus have tubercular folds, resulting in a wavy outline of the limbs. The tooth row formula of

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, ...

s is 2/3, with the A2 tooth row broadly separated in the center.

Range and ecology

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s and

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s; it is mostly found in

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

vegetation. In the northern part of its range (south to the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...

approximately) it is found on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

side of the

American Cordillera The American Cordillera ( ) is a chain of mountain ranges (cordilleras), consisting of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of the Americas. Aconcagua is the highest peak of the chain. It is also the ...

; on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

side, it is found from

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

southwards. It occurs up to 960 meters

ASL American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employ ...

in the northern parts of its range, but apparently only up to 300 m ASL in its southern haunts. The males call sitting on the upper sides of leaves, usually giving three notes of about 0.05 seconds duration with a dominant frequency of 5,600–6,200 Hz, separated by a 0.5– to 0.8-second pause from each other. It is unknown if and how they physically fight for females. The

clutches A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does the ...

are deposited on the upper sides of leaves above small

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s; after hatching, the

s drop into the water. The parents do not guard the eggs or care for their offspring otherwise. Moderately common in

, it is uncommon in

, and only rarely found in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Able to persist in small forest fragments, it is not considered threatened by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Taxonomy

This frog, like many Centrolenidae, has a confusing

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

history. It was initially described as a

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 ...

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 ...

Hyla ''Hyla'' is a genus of frogs in the tree frog family Hylidae. As traditionally defined, it was a wastebasket genus with more than 300 species found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and across the Americas. After a major revision of the family, most of t ...

''; on recognizing its true affiliations, it was variously placed in the genera '' Centrolene'', ''Centrolenella'' (now included in ''Centrolene'') and ''

Hyalinobatrachium ''Hyalinobatrachium'' is a genus of glass frogs, family Centrolenidae. They are widely distributed in the Americas, from tropical Mexico to southeastern Brazil and Argentina. Taxonomy and systematics The genus is currently defined to include ''H ...

''. In 2008, it was found to include the mysterious frog that had been described as ''Cochranella petersi'', and was subsequently considered allied or identical to Fleischmann's glass frog (''H. fleischmanni'') or '' H. valerioi'' in error. In 2009, it was transferred to then-resurrected ''

Teratohyla ''Teratohyla'' is a small genus of glassfrogs in the subfamily Centroleninae. The genus was for a while included in ''Centrolenella'' and then ''Cochranella'', but it was resurrected in 2009. These frogs are distributed from lowlands of Central A ...

''. Thus, the complete

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of this species is: * ''Centrolene pulveratum'' (Peters, 1873) * ''Centrolenella petersi'' (Goin, 1961) * ''Centrolenella pulverata'' (Peters, 1873) * ''Centrolenella pulveratum'' (Peters, 1873; ''

lapsus In philology, a lapsus (Latin for "lapse, slip, error") is an involuntary mistake made while writing or speaking. Investigations In 1895 an investigation into verbal slips was undertaken by a philologist and a psychologist, Rudolf Meringer and ...

'') * ''Cochranella pulverata'' (Peters, 1873) * ''Cochranella petersi'' Goin, 1961 * ''Hyalinobatrachium petersi'' (Goin, 1961) * ''Hyalinobatrachium pulveratum'' (Peters, 1873) * ''Hyla pulverata'' Peters, 1873 The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of this species is specimen ZMB 7842, that of ''C. petersi'' is specimen BM 1902.5.27.24.

Footnotes

References

* * (2008): Taxonomic identity of ''Cochranella petersi'' Goin, 1961 and ''Centrolenella ametarsia'' Flores, 1987. ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

'' 1815: 25–34 nglish with Spanish abstractbr>PDF fulltext
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q28056725 pulverata Frogs of North America Frogs of South America Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Costa Rica Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians of Honduras Amphibians of Nicaragua Amphibians of Panama Least concern biota of North America Least concern biota of South America Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Amphibians described in 1873 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot