Smith (1953:150) described _Hyla phaeota cyanosticta_ from Guatemala. Our studies on the external morphology, coloration, and especially the cranial osteology provide evidence that _cyanosticta_ is a species distinct from _phaeota_.
_Distribution._--_Smilisca phaeota_ inhabits humid tropical forests from northeastern Nicaragua southward on the Caribbean lowlands to elevations of about 1000 meters and on the Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica, exclusive of the arid regions of Guanacaste, throughout the lowlands of Panamá, exclusive of the savannas of the Pacific lowland and the Azuero Peninsula, and southward on the Pacific slopes of South America through Colombia to west-central Ecuador; also the valleys of the Río Cauca and Río Magdalena in Colombia (Fig. 2).
_Specimens examined._--528, as follows: NICARAGUA: =Matagalpa=: Finca Tepeyac, 10 km. N, 9 km. E Matagalpa, KU 85439, 87707 (tadpoles); Matagalpa, MCZ 3546-7, UMMZ 92367; 19 km. N Matagalpa, UMMZ 116495-6. Zelaya: Bonanza, KU 84854-62, 84950-2 (skeletons), 85440-50, 87708-9 (tadpoles); Cukra, AMNH 80618; Río Mico, 16 km. E Recreo, UMMZ 79711 (6), 79712 (4); junction Río Mico and Río Siguia, UMMZ 79713 (10); Río Siguia, 11 km. NW Rama, UMMZ 79714 (14), 79715 (11), 79716 (21), 79717, 79718 (3).
COSTA RICA: =Alajuela=: Cinchona, KU 32255, 64286-8; 5 km. S Ciudad Quesada, USC 8077; Laguna Monte Alegre, KU 64289-90; Las Playuelas, 11 km. S Los Chiles, USC 7216; San Carlos, USNM 29961.
=Cartago=: Moravia de Turrialba, KU 32212-47, 37133-5, 41093 (skeleton), 64280-1, USC 7243 (3); Peralta, KU 32271-2; Río Chitaría, 3 km. NNE Pavones, KU 64273-9, 68477 (eggs), 68478-83 (tadpoles), 68484 (young); Río Reventazón, MCZ 29196-203, UMMZ 117677 (9); Turrialba, KU 25720-2, 32209-11, 32266-8, 32273-4, 37136-67, 41090-2 (skeletons), 64270-2, MCZ 29221, 29222 (tadpoles), 29269-70, USNM 29934.
=Guanacaste=: Tilarán, KU 36805-7; 8 km. NE Tilarán, KU 36803-4.
=Heredia=: Barranca del Río Sarapiquí below Isla Bonita, KU 64282-3; Cariblanco, KU 32256-60, 41094 (skeleton), 64284, MCZ 7967; Isla Bonita, KU 32250-4; 4.2 km. W Puerto Viejo, KU 64285, 68485; 7.5 km. W Puerto Viejo, KU 68486; 1 km. S Puerto Viejo, KU 86518.
=Limón=: Bambú, USC 7182 (4); Batán, UMMZ 118582; Coén, MCZ 9825; La Lola, KU 32262-4, UF 4029, UMMZ 117678 (3); Los Diamantes, CNHM 101295-8, KU 25723-4, 32265, 64267-9; Pandora, UMMZ 122650 (2), USC 7188 (3), 7190; Puerto Limón, KU 32261; Río Larí at Río Dipari, 21 km. SW Amubre, USC 7177; Río Toro Amarillo, 7 km. W Guápiles, KU 86519, 87683 (tadpoles); Suretka, KU 36808-10, 37168.