A revision of the broad-headed frogs of the biporcatus species group of Eleutherodactylus s.l. has a wholly unexpected nomenclatural consequence. Eleutherodactylus biporcatus (W. Peters, 1863) is not from “Veragua” (western Panama) as originally thought, but is the proper name for the Venezuelan frog heretofore known as E. maussi (Boettger, 1893).

Three names are resurrected from synonymy for Central American species currently masquerading under the misapplied name biporcatus, and a fourth species is described as new: (1) The rediscovery of Eleutherodactylus gulosus (Cope, 1875) shows it to be a large montane frog occupying an apparently small range in the borderland of Costa Rica and Panama. (2) Eleutherodactylus rugosus (W. Peters, 1863) is a smaller species occurring on the Pacific versant of southwestern Costa Rica and western Panama; Lithodytes pelviculus Cope and L. florulentus Cope are synonyms of E. rugosus. (3) Eleutherodactylus megacephalus (Cope, 1875), an intermediate-sized frog ranging from Honduras to central Panama, is the more common species to which the name biporcatus has usually been applied. Available material from the western half of the Isthmus of Panama was too sparse to decide if another (unnamed) species is being included under the name megacephalus. (4) The name biporcatus also has been used for Eleutherodactylus opimus, new species, which occurs from central Panama to western Colombia.

Based on the condition of the m. adductor mandibulae, the Venezuelan Eleutherodactylus biporcatus s.s. (E. maussi, auctorum) belongs to the Middle American clade of Eleutherodactylus (subgenus Craugaster). However, preliminary data on karyotypes, as well as morphological differences, cast doubt on the closeness of E. biporcatus to the other species studied. The monophyly of the “biporcatus group” therefore remains to be tested.

RESUMEN

La revisión de las ranas de cabeza ancha del grupo biporcatus de Eleutherodactylus tiene una consecuencia nomenclatural completamente inesperada. Eleutherodactylus biporcatus (W. Peters, 1863) no es de “Veragua” (Panamá occidental) como se creía previamente, sino que es el nombre propio de la rana venezolana conocida hasta ahora como E. maussi (Boettger, 1893).

Se resucitan tres nombres de la sinonimia para especies centroamericanas previamente ocultos bajo el nombre incorrecto de biporcatus, y se describe una cuarta especie nueva: (1) El redescubrimiento de Eleutherodactylus gulosus (Cope, 1875) indica que es una rana grande, de montaña, que tiene una distribución geográfica pequeña en la frontera entre Costa Rica y Pan