FROGS OF COLOMBIA — COCHRAN AND GOIN 329 



placed Phrynohyas Fitzinger, 1843, and venulosa Laurenti (as pub- 

 lished in the combination Rana venulosa Laurenti, 1768) on the List of 

 Specific Names in Zoology. The commission further ruled that the 

 nominal species Rana venulosa Laurenti be interpreted by reference to 

 the type specimen of Hyla zonata Spix, 1824. Thus, the specific name 

 of this well-known frog becomes officially and finally Phrynohyas 

 venulosa. 



Remarks. — The skin secretions of this species are quite toxic and we 

 think it pertinent to again quote Ross Allen's field notes that originally 

 were published in Goin and Layne (1958, p. 113): 



While standing guard over our precious bufeo [freshwater porpoise] I heard a 

 chorus of frogs that was new to me, so after midnight I went to the place, which 

 was in a vacant, thickly wooded lot between houses in Leticia in the direction 

 upriver from the basino. When I approached, many stopped calling, but in a 

 few minutes I found one sitting on the edge of a rainwater pool. It appeared 

 toad-like but very alert, turning its head from one side to another. Its vocal 

 sacs were puffed out on the side of the neck and brown-gray in color. Then I 

 grabbed him as he started away and examined him more closely. . . . Its skin 

 on the side was very granulated looking and while I was handling it, it produced 

 a whitish mucus that covered my hand so I put him in my frog sack. My hands 

 had numerous scratches and small cuts and my left index finger a half-inch 

 skinned place, all of which began to burn; and in spite of washing and wiping, 

 it got worse. I went back to camp and tried to wash off the poison and applied 

 unguentine. The index finger and skinned place became fire-red, swollen, and 

 puffed up. The pain kept me awake the first night; the acid-like burn remained 

 along with the swelling for about three days, but my hands then healed without 

 further complications. 



As has been pointed out by Lutz and Kloss (1952, p. 656), natives 

 along the Amazon call this the boatman frog in allusion to the fact 

 that its voice resembles the tapping of paddles on the side of a canoe, 

 a technique used by the Indians to maintain the rhythm of the 

 strokes when paddling. Rivero (1961, p. 131) points out that in 

 Venezuela this species has the very appropriate common name 

 "rana lechera." 



Specimens Examined 



COLOMBIA 



Amazonas: Leticia, MLS 263, USNM 152012-6, UF 10021. 



Bolivar: Rio Vie jo, CJG 2298. 



Caqueta: La Provindencia, USNM 152047-50; Morelia, ANSP 25313. 



C6rdoba: Catival, upper Rio San Jorge, CNHM 61171; Rio Manso, CJG 



2441 (16). 

 Meta: Angostura No. 1, Rio Guayabero, USNM 152198; San Juan de Arama, 

 Los Micos, 400 m., CNHM 81328; Villavicencio, USNM 152248, MLS 68. 

 Norte de Santander: Astillero, MLS 258, 258a, 265b. 

 Tolima: Espinal, MCZ 15062. 

 Vaupes: Gino-Goje, USNM 152140. 

 State not known: Puerto Yaviya, upper Rio Apaporis, USNM 152141. 



