Colour and pattern polymorphism in Pristimantis shrevei and Eleutherodactylus johnstonei (Leptodactylidae) on St. Vincent, West Indies ALONDRA M. DIAZ-LAMEIRO 1, ROBERT POWELL 2, and CRAIG S. BERG 3 1 Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, PR 00682 2 Department of Biology, Avila University, Kansas City, MO 64145, USA. E-mail:
[email protected] [corresponding author] 3 Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee, WI 53220, USA HE genus Eleutherodactylus , with more than versatile E. johnstonei dominates and P. shrevei is 700 species, had been considered to be the absent (Mallery et al ., 2007). mTost speciose vertebrate genus (Pough et al ., As in many eleutherodactylines (e.g., Schwartz 2004). A recent revision (Heinicke et al ., 2007), & Henderson, 1991; Sifers et al ., 2001), both however, revealed three major clades, two of Vincentian species are extremely variable in which are represented in the West Indies. A colour and pattern. Sander et al . (2003) “Caribbean clade” ( Eleutherodactylus ) contains documented considerable variation in E. four subgenera and 170 currently recognised johnstonei from Grenada, identifying colour and species, including all but two West Indian forms. A pattern elements that occurred in varying “South American clade” ( Pristimantis ) contains frequencies in populations at different locations. nearly 400 species, two of which occur on the St. We examined colour, patterns, and sizes of frogs Vincent and Grenada island banks. All of these taken from sites on St. Vincent at high to moderate frogs lay eggs in humid places outside of water elevations, where both species were present, and at and exhibit direct development, with froglets low elevation, where we found only E.