Biochemical Taxonomy of South American Amphibians by Means of Skin Amines and Polypeptides

Abstract

The distribution of various amines and polypeptides of the skin in 90 species of five frog families show general agreement with classifications based on other criteria. In particular, the skin biochemistry generally supports the subgeneric divisions of <i>Leptodactylus</i> based on secondary sex characters; the isolated position of <i>Odontophrynus</i> among the Cerato- phryidae indicated by serological evidence is supported; <i>Phyllomedusa</i> differs strongly from other hylid genera in its possession of large amounts of polypeptides; and the presence of bufotenine in <i>Melanophryniscus</i> confirms the assignment of the genus to the Bufonidae. There is great variation within and between species of <i>Bufo</i> in amounts of amines of the skin.