Serous cutaneous glands in new world hylid frogs: an ultrastructural study on skin poisons confirms phylogenetic relationships between Osteopilus septentrionalis and Phrynohyas venulosa.

Transmission electron microscope investigations of the serous (poison) skin glands in the New World tree frogs Osteopilus septentrionalis and Phrynohyas venulosa revealed that they produce granules with closely similar substructures, namely, a dense cortex and pale medulla. In both species these features, that contrast the complex, sometimes repeating patterns described in other hylid frogs, derive from similar secretory and maturational processes starting from the Golgi phase of poison biosynthesis. Observations on secretory discharge showed that the two species share common release mechanisms, based on bulk discharge (holocrine) processes. Our data provide novel evidence of the extensive ultrastructural polymorphism of serous skin products in Hylidae and agree with phylogenies that regard this family as polyphyletic in origin. Assuming that ultrastructural features of cutaneous poison biosynthesis and maturation are adequate clues for tracking anuran phylogeny, the present findings also support a close relationship between Osteopilus and Phrynohyas taxa as previously suggested by osteological evidence.