0^ I MUS. CO MP. ZOOL. «g / 1^% LIBRARY OCCASIONAL PAPERS AUG 1 2 1Q74 of the HARVARD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas NUMBER 29, PAGES 1-60 JULY 19, 1974 SYSTEMATIC RELATIONSHIPS OF NEOTROPICAL HORNED FROGS, GENUS HEMIPHRACTUS (ANURA: HYLIDAE) By Linda Trueb^ In the minds of all but the most resolute and devoted systematic biologists, taxonomic study frequently is viewed as a necessary tedium, economically dispatched so that one can move on to more interesting aspects of the biology of an organism. However, occa-sionally one chances upon an animal that because of its literary antiquity, bizarre appearance and habits, and questionable rela-tionships is of intrinsic interest. Such is the case of the extraordi-nary horned frogs of the genus HemipJiractus. These Neotropical frogs are denizens of undisturbed cloud forests, montane and low-land tropical rainforests from Panama south to Bolivia. Mating calls are unknown in the group, as are breeding congregations. Solitary individuals are found perched on low vegetation in the forest at night, and, only rarely, a fortunate collector has found a female carrying eggs or young upon her back. Although these frogs have been known for 150 years, onl\' about 200 preser\ed specimens exist, and more than 50 percent of these ha\'e been obtained in the course of extensive field work in Panama, Ecuador, and Peru within the last eight years. The familial association of this genus has been subject to constant debate since the first species was named in 1824. The morphological pecuHarities have been described, re-described, and largely misinterpreted for an equal length of time. And, \irtually nothing is known about the breeding biology, habits, or population structure of these frogs. In view of the uniqueness 1 Adjunct Curator, Di\ision of Herpetolog>-, Museum of Natural History, and Department of Systematics and Ecology, The Unixersity of Kansas.
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