Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 56

Morphological data show that Hyla dayi (Anura: Hylidae) should never have been assigned to Nyctimystes

Citation

Kraus, F. 2013. Morphological data show that Hyla dayi Günther, 1897 (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) should never have been assigned to Nyctimystes. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature 56(2): 581-587. Brisbane. ISSN 0079-8835. https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.56.2.2013-11

Published online

30 June 2013

Peer reviewed

Yes

DOI

https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.56.2.2013-11

Keywords

Litoria dayi, Nyctimystes, Pelodryadinae, Queensland, Treefrog, Wet Tropics

Abstract 

The treefrog described as Hyla dayi Gunther and now known as Litoria dayi is restricted to the Wet Tropics of northern Queensland and has long been a source of taxonomic confusion. For many years this species was placed in Nyctimystes, but here I show that this frog never met the morphological criteria for assignment to that genus, which has long been defined by the combination of a vertically oriented pupil and the presence of a reticulum of coloured lines on the palpebrum. In particular, this species lacks the diagnostic vertical pupil on the basis of which Nyctimystes was originally erected. This is important because recent molecular studies have used this species and its erroneous generic assignment to provide misleading phylogenetic "tests" purporting to refute the monophyly of Nyctimystes. Recognising that L. dayi was never properly placed within Nyctimystes obviates these claims. Morphological and more recent molecular evidence both support a monophyletic Nyctimystes restricted to the Papuan region. I note an additional cranial character that, upon broader taxonomic investigation, may further support the monophyly of that genus.