Rana typhonia Linnaeus, 1758

Sá, De, 2010, The identity of the crackling, luminescent frog of Suriname (Rana typhonia Linnaeus, 1758) (Amphibia, Anura), Zootaxa 2671, pp. 17-30 : 19-20

2. Rana typhonia Linnaeus, 1758 , the crackling and luminescent frog of Rolander

Searching for the identity of Rana typhonia and following ICZN Art. 72.4.1.1, we analyzed Daniel Rolander’s Diarium Surinamicum, quod sub itinere exotico conscripsit Daniel Rolander, tomus I and II. 1754- 1756. As noted above, until the integral English translation published by Hansen (2008), the only clue we had about Rolander’s diary was an excerpt published by Boie (1827) (that of Duméril and Bibron 1841 is a French translation of Boie’s paper). Hansen (2008) work gives us a completely new prospect on the identity of Rana typhonia . Also, thanks to the kindness of Prof. Dr. James Dobreff, leading translator of Rolander’s Diary ( Hansen 2008) and Editor of Daniel Rolander Diarium Surinamicum (in press), we had a deep and first hand analysis of the conflictive first paragraph of the description, published as “... Rana crepitans , quae Rana typhonia * dicitur ...” by Boie (1827) (the asterisk refers in Boie’s work to “ Lin. system. nat. Seba thes 1 pag. 114 t. 71 f. 3. 4. ”).

According to Dobreff (2009a) the Diarium, drafted during the trip, was exhaustively reviewed and updated in Copenhagen between 1763 and 1765, resulting in the inclusion, as notes, of several Linnaean names. Rolander originally diary says “... Rana crepitans , quae Rana Surinamensis dicitur ...”, with a footnote referring to “Seba, Thes.I. pag. 114, t. 71, f. 3. 4.” Then, some time after the publication of the tenth edition of the Systema Naturae ( Linnaeus 1758), Rolander crossed out “S urinamensis ” and added just above the deletion “ typhonia ”, forgetting or likely not bothering to remove the footnote referring to Seba's Rana, Surinamensis. Lastly , the Danish naturalist Martin Vahl got the original manuscript of Diarium Surinamicum and put an asterisk after “ typhonia ”, referring to his own note in the margin “ Lin. Sys. ” (Dobreff in litt., April 10th, 2010).

In Rolander’s diary, the species was characterized as:

“... Rana crepitans , quae Rana Surinamensis typhonia dicitur magnitudine Ranae aquaticae est, supra fusca, subtus flava; puncta elevata, convexa, inaequalia per corpus sparsa conspiciuntur: eadem haec puncta instructa sunt emissariis, e quibus excernere solent humorem illum lacteum, quo totum corpus obducit, ut quae modo fusca erat, intra inomentum albissima appareat. Palmae tetradactylae fissae; plantae pentadactylae, subpalmatae; digitorum apices rotundati, planiusculi. Indis americanis cibo sunt ...”.

Thus, Rolander’s description shows that Rana crepitans , which was named Rana Surinamensis typhonia has a size comparable to that of Rana aquaticae (probably a Rana temporaria or a Rana esculenta sensu Linnaeus 1758 ), is dorsally dark and yellowish ventrally, and has elevated, convex, and unequal warts scattered across the body. From these warts, a milky fluid is produced that covers the entire body, so the dark dorsal areas suddenly appear white. The hands have four fingers, separated, and the feet five toes, semipalmated, being the tip of the digits flattened and rounded. The American Indians eat them.

In addition, Boie (1827) included a seemingly textual transcription of Rolander’s diary on the events on November, 19th [1755], in order to discuss a case of luminescence in the frog collected by Rolander. In that section, Rolander commented his vicissitudes trying to identify the source of the sounds that bewildered him at night, until he realized that the responsibles were a group of frogs hidden in the roof of a barn, and the fact that on that night he was awakened by a noise similar to that of a crow, describing the situation as “... somnum mihi ademit crepitatio cornicans, ingratissim a...”.

In summary, Rolander’s corrections on his own manuscript suggest that Linnaeus eventually described and named his Rana crepitans as Rana typhonia . If the explicit note added by Rolander to his manuscript is still considered unconvincing, the reinterpretation of Linnaeus’s (1758) diagnosis in light of this new information should help to support the identity proposed herein. Rana typhonia was characterized as:

R[ana] auricularibus lobis ovatis. Habitat in America, clamitans nocte fono cornicis tetro lucente. Rolander.

The following translation and analysis of Linnaeus’s description further supports our interpretation:

1. R[ana] auricularibus lobis ovatis: The “ovate ear lobes” had two different interpretations. Dozens of authors had followed Schneider (1799), who re-defined this character state as “... Margo capitis aucta membrana altra supra oculos et aures eminente” (i.e., “...Margins of the head with a noticeable high membrane on the eyes and ears...”); this was the basis for the application of the name Rana typhonia to toads now placed in the Rhinella typhonia or margaritifera group. On the other hand, other authors (i.a., Andersson 1900; Hoogmoed 1989) considered them as “the large blown out vocal sacs” shown by the individual labeled by Quensel in the Stockholm Museum catalogue as Rana typhonia . Furthermore, this character state was later the basis for Andersson’s (1900) synonymization of Rana typhonia with Hoplobatrachus tigerinus .

2. Habitat in America: Although the origin is imprecise by modern standards, it fits the Linnaean style [note that Linnaeus 1758, described anurans from America (5), Europa (e) (5), Exteris regionibus (2), Indiis (2), Surinami (2), and Virginia (1)].

3. clamitans nocte fono cornicis tetro lucente

Kitchell and Dundee (1994) translated the later sentence as a single phrase, meaning “calling by night with the foul sound of the crow as it grows light”. Under the new evidence, we consider the statement to encompass two characters:

3.1 Clamitans nocte fono cornicis: This characterizes the strident call of the species, similar to that of a crow, and has a noticeable similitude with the reference to the “... crepitatio cornicans, ingratissima ...” mentioned by Rolander for his Rana crepitans , and

3.2 tetro lucente: Refers to the ability to produce a dim light or glow. Rolander noted that the barn where the frogs were calling seemed as if illuminated by a yellow foxfire (“... horreum idem forte intravi, quod crepitantibus Ranis, quasi igne flavescente fatuo, illustrabatur... ”), and the glow was purportedly produced by the frogs “...as they alternately open and close their mouths to croak...” ( Boie 1827; Hansen 2008).

Considering that Linnaeus was never in Surinam, and almost certainly never heard the mating call of Rana typhonia , nor did he observe the alleged bioluminescence, it is highly probable that the origin of these two key characters in Linnaeus’s description stem from Rolander’s notes.

The diagnosis previously analyzed was followed by a brief description, applicable to various species of treefrogs ( Linnaeus 1758):

Dorsum rugis quatuor longitudinalibus, punctis elevatis, maculisque nigris. Pedes mutici. Palmae tetradactylae fissae; Plantae pentadactylae palmatae; digitis angustis; secundo longissimo; absque unguibus orbiculatis.

Kitchell and Dundee (1994) translated the above paragraph as:

“The back has four longitudinal wrinkles, raised dots, and black spots. The feet are stubby, front feet four-toed and split, rear feet five-toed and palmate. The toes are narrow, the second being the longest, but lacking rounded claws”.

The last character state (“but lacking rounded claws”) describes any frog except a treefrog; however, the key is in the latin word absque. It can be translated as a negative, as Kitchell and Dundee (1994) did, but absque also means “with the exception of” ( Various Authors 1968). Thus, we translate the sentence “... digitis angustis; secundo longissimo; absque unguibus orbiculatis ...” as “... toes narrow, except for the rounded tip, the second being the longest...”.

Consequently, and also based on Rolander (in Boie 1827 and Hansen 2008) and Linnaeus (1758), we have no doubts that Rana typhonia is the name given by Linnaeus to Rolander’s Rana crepitans .