Pithecopus is a genus of frogs in the family Phyllomedusidae, but some scientists say it is in the subfamily Phyllomedusinae in the family Hylidae. These frogs live in tropical South America east of the Andes, from southern Venezuela to northern Argentina. For a while, scientists said this was another name for Phyllomedusa, but, in 2016, they changed it to Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis group. Its sister group is Callimedusa.
Name
The name of this genus comes from the Greek pithekodes, which means "ape-like."
Description
Pithecopus frogs are medium-sized frogs measuring about in snout–vent length, which means from nose to rear end. On their feet, Toe I is much longer than toe II, and is opposable to it like a thumb. These frogs do not have vomerine teeth. The tadpoles have a moderately small oral disc on the bottoms of their bodies, near the front.
Species
There are 12 species in this genus:
However, AmphibiaWeb lists only some of these species (Pithecopus araguaius, Pithecopus rusticus, and Pithecopus gonzagai). It puts the others in Phyllomedusa.