Scinax similis (Cochran 1952)

Cited from localities in the Brazilian states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and from a locality in Paraguay.

ÓLEOS ESENCIAIS

Description of holotype Vomerine teeth in two heavy, short, transverse groups almost continuous medially, between the posterior halves of the choanae; tongue about three-fifths as wide as mouth opening, roundly elliptical except for a deep notch on its free posterior margin; snout rather short, rounded when viewed from above and in profile, the upper jaw extending considerably beyond the lower; nostrils superolateral, greatly projecting, almost at the extreme tip of snout, separated from each other by an interval equal to two-thirds their distance from eye. Canthus rostralis rounded; loreal region slightly concave and very oblique. Eye large, very prominent, its diameter equal to its distance from nostril and to five-sixths the length of snout; interorbital diameter about 1 1/4 times the width of upper eyelid, greater than distance between nostrils. Tympanum very distinct, about two-thirds the width of eye, separated from eye by a very narrow interval equal to about one-eighth its own diameter. Fingers with a slight trace of a basal web, fourth very slightly longer than second but not reaching the base of third, which covers one-fourth the tympanic area; no rudiment of a pollex visible; toes onehalf webbed, fifth slightly longer than third, disk of fourth toe covering about one-fourth the tympanic area; a distinct oval inner and a small, wartlike outer metatarsal tubercle; a faint glandular ridge along inside of tarsus and a still weaker outer tarsal ridge; no dermal appendage on heel. Body moderately heavy in build, in postaxillary region narrower than greatest width of head. When hind leg is adpressed, heel reaches to anterior border of eye; when limbs are laid along the body, knee and elbow are separated by a considerable interval; when hind legs are bent at right angles to the body, heels considerably overlap. Skin of upper parts with numerous elongate glandules and small tubercles, especially prominent on the center of the back; a narrow glandular ridge encircling upper part of tympanum and ending just behind it above the shoulder; skin of throat and chest with minute scattered pustules, that of belly coarsely granular on the breast, finely granular posteriorly and on the lower surface of femur; a slight skin fold across the chest and another raueh more prominent preceding it across the throat. A series of lateral folds on each side of the throat marking the presence of lateral gular sacs in the male. Dimensions: Head and body, 35 mm; head length, 11.5 mm; diameter of eye, 4 mm; width of head, 11 mm; femur, 15 mm; tibia, 16.5 mm; hind limb, 48 mm; forelimb, 19 mm; foot, 14 mm; hand, 9 mm. Color in alcohol: Dorsal ground color ecru-drab, with an indistinct light sepia triangle between the eyes; a dorsolateral longitudinal series of very irregular sepia spots sometimes anastomosing across the back, their outer margin dark and fairly straight, delineating a dorsolateral stripe of the pale ground color, this light stripe edged below with an Indefinite dark stripe, which begins behind the tympanum and breaks up on the sides into a fine reticulation of dark on a light ground, continued and becoming coarser toward the groin; a faint dark line along canthus rostralis; loreal region and upper lip marbled slightly with drab; upper surface of femur with fine sepia reticulations fading out on the anterior surface, becoming darker and coarser on the posterior surface and enclosing irregular pale cinnamon areas; upper surface of tibia with three large diagonal spots; outer tarsus and upper arm indistinctly marbled with drab; ventral surface immaculate buff. Color in life: Malachite to sage green above, immaculate. Posterior femur chrome-yellow with brown reticulations. Throat citron-yellow; belly sulphur-yellow in the center, chrome-yellow toward the sides, immaculate. In other specimen dorsum clay color in center, with a drab dorsolateral stripe. Groin and ventral surface olive-buff, the sides with sepia spots. Fore and hind legs ochraceous, barred with raw umber. In other specimen: dorsum light ohve-gray, with coarse mouse-gray blotches edged with black. Upper and posterior parts of femur orange-ochraceous, mottled with dark sepia. Chin, chest, and lower parts of limbs ecru-drab; belly pale blue. Variations Within the usual limits there is the same amount of confusing variation in this species that is met with in the other members of the rubber group. The snout is usually rounded, but in about one-third of the examples it is slightly pointed. The tympanum, always distinct, may range from one-half to two thirds the diameter of the eye in width. The interorbital diameter is often 1 Å? times the width of the upper eyehd, but in a few instances scarcely exceeds the eyelid in width. The distance from the posterior border of the tympanum to the tip of the snout varies between 31 and 36 percent of the total length of head and body, while the tibia is from 43 to 54 percent of this length. The adpressed heel may reach occasionally only to the posterior corner of the eye, most often to the center or anterior border of the eye, and rarely as far as the nostril. The disks of the fingers may be large, moderate or rather small, and as the tympanum itself varies considerably in size, the fourth finger disk may cover as little as one-fourth of its area to as much as two-thirds. The skin of the back is smooth in perhaps one-fourth of the specimens (this may depend on preservation to some extent), faintly granular all over in some, granular only on the posterior part in others. The pattern seems as varied as do the physical dimensions. Usually there is a more or less distinct dark area between the eyes, but no other markings are at all constant. Some individuals are pale drab, with remnants of longitudinal dark stripes as in rubra appearing in this species as two rather irregular dark stripes enclosing a light area on each side of the back. In other specimens the upper one of the two dark stripes shortens and becomes crescentic; in many cases its inner edge approaches its fellow until they nearly fuse across the back, and in some cases they actually do become fused, with a few scattered light spots on them which may indicate their usual limits. Sometimes there is an irregular network of coarse dark spots down the back; sometimes an inverted V or its separated elements may appear on the sacral region. The upper part of the femur is usually irregularly spotted or reticulated; in only a few instances do these spots suggest the regular dark cross bars characterizing some other members of this group. Quite often the posterior surface of the femur reveals a rather large, very irregular, elongate light spot surrounded and set off by narrow dark reticulations. In other cases the posterior femur is finely marbled with small light and dark spots in about equal proportions. The upper surface of the tibia often has three irregular oval spots placed diagonally across it. Any of these dark spots may lighten, leaving only a narrow dark outline which suggests a parallelogram or an irregular circle. Numerous small dark dots scattered over the upper surfaces still further obscure the pattern. The sides sometimes show linear rows of dark dots more or less fused into a network, or often a scattering of fine dots with no particular arrangement. The groin quite often has a very pale (yellowish in life) area, confined sometimes to an elongate irregular spot encircled by darker, heavier reticulations. The ventral surface appears to be immaculate in the specimens at hand. A good many individuals show a dark brown stripe along the canthus, with considerable spotting on the upper lip; other specimens have a much lighter canthal stripe and the labial spots are reduced to a light marbling. Sometimes the canthal stripe is continued over the tympanum as a narrow dark line, widening behind the ear and often ending in front of the forearm, but also sometimes carried part way down the side of an irregular dark stripe. Larval morphology Can be distinguished from others species by the following disgnostic features: 1) eyes large in relation to body length, body height, and body width, interocular distance times larger eye diameter, 2) lower beak with two transverse stripes proximal half white and distal half black.

EUROPA

LC. Least Concern.

Scinax similis is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitats are moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, swamps, intermittent freshwater marshes, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, and ponds.