''Sphaenorhynchus'' is a genus of

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 ...

s in the family

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 ...

. They are also known as lime treefrogs or hatchet-faced treefrogs. They are found in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

River basins of South America, the

Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British Guiana, British, Surinam (Dutch colo ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, and southern and eastern Brazil. The majority of the species are associated with the Atlantic Forest domain in Brazil.

Systematics

''Sphaenorhynchus'' has been suggested to be the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Scarthyla ''Scarthyla'' is a genus of tree frogs, the family Hylidae. They are found in the upper Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers ...

'' + ''

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 ...

''. Faivovich and colleagues (2005) placed it in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Dendropsophini, together with ''

Dendropsophus ''Dendropsophus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hylidae. They are distributed in Central and South America, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay. They are sometimes known under the common name Fitzinger neotropical treefrogs ...

'', ''

Lysapsus ''Lysapsus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hylidae found in South America east of the Andes. Their common name is harlequin frogs. Many frogs in ''Lysapsus'' have a paradoxical life cycle. They are most massive when they are older tadpoles ...

'', ''

Pseudis ''Pseudis'' is a genus of South American frogs (swimming frogs) in the family Hylidae. They are often common and frequently heard, but easily overlooked because of their camouflage and lifestyle, living in lakes, ponds, marshes and similar waters ...

'', ''Scarthyla'', ''Scinax'', and ''

Xenohyla ''Xenohyla'' is a genus of tree frogs in the family Hylidae that is endemic to xeric habitats of coastal Brazil, with '' Xenohyla eugenioi'' native to the State of Bahia and the State of Sergipe, and '' Xenohyla truncata'' native to the Stat ...

''.

Description

''Sphaenorhynchus'' are small to moderately sized frogs. They are bright green or yellowish green in life. The snout is pointed and projecting in lateral view. Most species have well-developed horizontal dermal flaps on each side of the anus. The fingers are weakly webbed while the toes are extensively webbed. Males have a

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible Biological membrane, membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the voca ...

on the posterior throat region.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Sphaenorhynchus'':

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2311063 Amphibian genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi