ABSTRACT
RESUMEN La composición de la dieta constituye información básica sobre la historia natural de la especie. A pesar de la cantidad de datos adquiridos en los últimos años, aún queda mucho por conocer, especialmente para especies geográficamente extendidas. Aquí compilamos los elementos dietéticos disponibles de Leptodactylus vastus y reportamos el primer evento de depredación de Rupirana cardosoi por un juvenil de L. vastus. El hecho de que estas especies sean sintópicas en la región probablemente resultó en este nuevo evento de depredación. A diferencia de las observaciones previas de depredación de L. vastus, los especímenes que observamos no presentan una diferencia notable en el tamaño corporal, pero L. vastus fue capaz de casi tragar R. cardosoi, en coherencia con los hallazgos de que el tamaño de la boca está relacionado con la selección de presas en los anuros. Además, nuestra revisión de la literatura mostró que L. vastus es un depredador generalista y oportunista, que se alimenta de pequeños vertebrados (Amphibia, Squamata y Mammalia).
ABSTRACT Diet composition constitutes basic information on the natural history of the species. Despite the amount of data acquired in the last years, much remains to be known specially for geographically widespread species. Here we compiled the available dietary items of Leptodactylus vastus and report the first predation event upon Rupirana cardosoi by a juvenile L. vastus. The fact these species are syntopic in the region probably resulted in this novel predation event. Different from previous L. vastus predation observations, the specimens we observed do not present a striking difference in body size, but L. vastus was able to almost swallow L. cardosoi, coherent with findings that mouth size is related to prey selection in anurans. Also, our literature review showed that L. vastus is a generalist and opportunistic predator, that prey upon small vertebrates (Amphibia, Squamata, and Mammalia).
ABSTRACT
We describe a new species of the Dendropsophus decipiens Group, morphologically most resembling D. haddadi but genetically more closely related to D. oliveirai and likely endemic from the Atlantic Forest biome, northeastern Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from all species of the D. decipiens Group based on the combination of morphological features, advertisement call and phylogenetic position based on mitochondrial DNA gene sequences. The new species emits simple calls in series of 3-9 notes, each with 9-29 pulses, and dominant frequency varying from 5578-6422 Hz, and exhibit a minimum of 8% genetic distance (16S mitochondrial gene) in comparison to its congeners. The new taxa represent the sixth species of the D. decipiens Group, which likely harbors more undescribed taxa, corroborating the view that Neotropical species richness is fairly underestimated.
Subject(s)
Anura , Animals , Brazil , Forests , Phylogeny , Vocalization, AnimalABSTRACT
Nyctimantis galeata (Pombal, Menezes, Fontes, Nunes, Rocha Van Sluys) is a casque-headed frog member of the Lophyohylini tribe (Blotto et al. 2020), narrow-endemic to the municipality of Morro do Chapéu, Bahia state, Brazil (Pombal et al. 2012). This species was initially described as sister of Corythomantis greeningi Boulenger based on shared osteological autapomorphies within Hylidae (see Faivovich et al. 2005; Pombal et al. 2012). However, in the most recent molecular phylogenetic analysis of Lophyohylini, Blotto et al. (2020) redefined the genus Nyctimantis to accommodate species from the former genus Aparasphenodon, Argenteohyla and "Corythomantis galeata" (as initially described; Pombal et al. 2012). Currently, the genus Nyctimantis comprises seven species: N. arapapa (Pimenta, Napoli Haddad), N. bokermanni (Pombal), N. brunoi (Miranda-Ribeiro), N. galeata, N. pomba (Assis, Santana, Silva, Quintela Feio), N. rugiceps Boulenger, and N. siemersi (Mertens). Among these, N. arapapa (Lourenço-de-Moraes et al. 2013), N. brunoi (Wogel et al. 2006) and N. siemersi (Céspedez 2000; Cajade et al. 2010) have their tadpoles described, while oral cavity anatomy was only reported for those of N. brunoi and N. siemersi (Wogel et al. 2006; Cajade et al. 2010). Considering that larval morphology generally provides reliable information for anuran systematic and taxonomic studies (Wassersug 1980; McDiarmid Altig 1999; Haas 2003), a formal comparison of these larvae might highlight additional non-molecular evidence that support them as congeners (Blotto et al. 2020). Herein, we describe the external morphology and oral cavity anatomy of tadpoles of N. galeata and compare it with those of related species.
Subject(s)
Anura , Environment , Animals , Anura/genetics , Brazil , Larva , PhylogenyABSTRACT
Abstract: Although anuran tadpoles are widely distributed and abundant in tropical aquatic habitats, there is a lack of taxonomic keys for the Atlantic Forest. Herein, we developed a dichotomous key for identifying the tadpoles for all species with known larval phase and already recorded in the Atlantic Forest north of the São Francisco River. We analyzed discrete characteristics of 1,042 tadpoles encompassing 63 species of 28 genera from 32 localities. The user-friendly key includes illustration and pictures, and it is a significant step towards improving our knowledge of tadpoles of the Atlantic Forest.
Resumo: Embora os girinos de anuros sejam amplamente distribuídos e abundantes em habitats aquáticos tropicais, não há chaves taxonômicas suficientes para as espécies da Mata Atlântica. Aqui, desenvolvemos uma chave dicotômica para identificar os girinos de todas as espécies com fase larval conhecida e já registradas nesse bioma, ao norte do rio São Francisco. Nós analisamos características discretas de 1.042 girinos pertencentes a 63 espécies (28 gêneros) de 32 localidades. Esta chave de identificação inclui ilustrações e imagens, sendo um passo significativo para um melhor conhecimento dos girinos da Mata Atlântica.
