Smilisca phaeota (Cope, 1862)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The New Granada cross-banded tree frog (Smilisca phaeota), also known as the masked tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Hylidae found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, rivers, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, plantations, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forests, ponds, and canals and ditches.
Their nickname of masked tree frog comes from the black or dark colored markings that start at their nose and go back along the face toward their ear, covering their eye.
Because it goes across their eye, it can help with camouflage, as many predators find prey by their open eyes.
Wikipedia contributors, New Granada cross-banded tree frog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:52:05.986518+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Smilisca phaeota (Cope, 1862)
- Name authority
- (Cope, 1862)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Hylidae
- Genus
- Smilisca
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAmphibia
- orderAnura
- familyHylidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusSmilisca Cope, 1865
- speciesSmilisca phaeota (Cope, 1862)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Smilisca. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Mexican SmiliscaSmilisca baudinii (Duméril & Bibron, 1841) | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Smilisca dentata (Smith, 1957) | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lowland Burrowing TreefrogSmilisca fodiens (Boulenger, 1882) | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Smilisca puma (Cope, 1885) | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Smilisca sila Duellman & Trueb, 1966 | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Smilisca cyanosticta (Smith, 1953) | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Smilisca manisorum (Taylor, 1954) | HylidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hyla carinata Andersson, 1939 Andersson, 1939 | synonym |
| Hyla phaeota Cope, 1862 Cope, 1862 | synonym |
| Hyla baudini dolomedes Barbour, 1923 Barbour, 1923 | synonym |
| Smilisca phaeota phaeota (Cope, 1862) (Cope, 1862) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=662825 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4XWY7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.