Peltophryne

Peltophryne is a genus of true toads in the family Bufonidae, from the Greater Antilles. With ten endemic species, Cuba hosts the highest diversity. Hispaniola has three endemics and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands combined have one.

Description

Peltophryne range is size from the relatively small Peltophryne cataulaciceps with a snout–vent length of to the large Peltophryne peltocephala with SVL of. The skull is as long as wide and contains some unique osteological features. These are considered to be derived characters that set these toads apart from other bufonids.

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1843, but placed in synonymy with Bufo by Albert Günther in 1859. Subsequent work has considered Peltophryne either as a valid genus, a subgenus, or a synonym of Bufo. At present, treating Peltophryne as a valid genus has largely been accepted based on both morphological characters and genetic evidence, but treating it as a subgenus of Bufo still has a small following.

Species

There are 14 species in this genus:

Conservation

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed many of the species as "Critically Endangered" or "Endangered", primarily due to habitat loss from development. Surviving wild populations of Peltophryne lemur have been supported by captive bred animals.