New species of flea-toad, genus Brachycephalus (Anura: Brachycephalidae) from the Atlantic Forest of Esprito Santo, Brazil.

We describe a new species of dull-colored flea-toad, genus Brachycephalus, from the Atlantic Forest of Capara mountains in southeastern Brazil. The new species is characterized by its diminutive size, leptodactyliform body, brownish color with an inverted V-shaped dark mark on dorsum, skin smooth, hyperossification and dorsal shield absent, linea masculinea absent, Fingers I and IV vestigial, Toe I externally absent, Toe II reduced but functional, Toes III and IV with pointed tips, Toe V vestigial, and ventral color uniformly brown. It is a leaf litter dweller, known only from type locality in the humid forests on the eastern slopes of Parque Nacional do Capara mountains, a protected area in the states of Esprito Santo and Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the third flea-toad occurring in the state of Esprito Santo recovered as sister to all other Brachycephalus distributed from the state of So Paulo northward in the Atlantic Forest.

THE TADPOLE OF ZACHAENUS CARVALHOI IZECKSOHN, 1983 (ANURA: CYCLORAMPHIDAE).

The genus Zachaenus Cope is the least specious within Cycloramphidae, including two species: Z. carvalhoi Izecksohn, and Z. parvulus (Girard). Both are leaf litter species distributed across Atlantic forest remnants in Southeastern Brazil. Zachaenus carvalhoi occurs westerly in the states of Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais, and Z. parvulus easterly in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Espírito Santo (Verdade et al. 2009; Motta et al. 2010; Salles Maciel 2010; Oliveira et al. 2012; Guedes et al. 2019; Frost 2019). Both species build terrestrial nests, and larval development is endotrophic nidicolous (reproductive mode 21 after Haddad Prado 2005; Lutz 1944; Thibaudeau Altig 1999; Zocca et al. 2014). In this work, we describe the tadpoles of Z. carvalhoi, and discuss morphological aspects regarding other endotrophic tadpoles.

The tadpole of Hypsiboas guentheri (Boulenger) (Anura: Hylidae).

Hypsiboas guentheri is a species of treefrog that inhabits the surrounding vegetation of temporary and permanent ponds at the coastal region of Southern Brazil, in the States of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul (Langone 1997; Frost 2016). It belongs to the H. pulchellus species group (Faivovich et al. 2004, Duellman et al. 2016), this group contains 39 species (Frost 2016), but formal descriptions of tadpoles are missing for 15 of them (Kolenc et al. 2008; Pinheiro et al., 2016). Herein we describe tadpoles of H. guentheri collected in February 2014 in the accumulated water on an underpass for wildlife crossing at the RS-486 highway (29º30'44.8" S 50º06'29.9" W), Itati municipality, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.

Unexpected phylogenetic positions of the genera Rupirana and Crossodactylodes reveal insights into the biogeography and reproductive evolution of leptodactylid frogs.

Despite major progress in deciphering the amphibian tree of life by molecular phylogenetics, we identified two questions remaining to be answered regarding relationships within Hyloidea, the clade of South American origin that comprises most extant anuran diversity. A few genera like Rupirana and Crossodactylodes have enigmatic phylogenetic positions, and relationships among major lineages within some families like Leptodactylidae remain ambiguous. To resolve these specific questions we used two approaches (1) a complete matrix approach representing >6.6 kb, including most major Hyloidea lineages (61 terminals) combining different methods of phylogenetic reconstruction and measures of node support; and (2) a supermatrix approach >11.6 kb with a focus on Leptodactylidae. Both Rupirana and Crossodactylodes are unambiguously grouped with Paratelmatobius and Scythrophrys. The clade comprising these four genera is named Crossodactylodinae and embedded within Leptodactylidae. Crossodactylodinae is moderately supported as sister group of Leptodactylinae from (1) and as the sister group of the other Leptodactylidae from (2) with low support. Genera within Crossodactylodinae are scattered along a north-south axis in the Atlantic forest and their origins are very ancient (Paleocene). Such results stress the importance of the northern Atlantic forest in terms of conservation. Moreover, the position of Pseudopaludicola, which is well supported as the sister group to all other Leiuperinae, suggests that foam-nest building may have arisen independently in Leptodactylinae and Leiuperinae. Moreover, in spite of being of similar age, foam-nest builders are more widespread than nonfoam-nest breeders and have higher species diversity. Nevertheless, the bulk of the diversity within foam-nest breeders arose some 20 Myr later than the character itself.

The Amazonian toad Rhaebo guttatus is able to voluntarily squirt poison from the paratoid macroglands

Amphibian defence mechanisms commonly rely on cutaneous toxins produced in either isolated or clusteredglands, such as toad parotoid macroglands. In contrast to the passive mechanism of poison liberation in other amphibians,we discovered that the Amazonian toad Rhaebo guttatus is unique because it can voluntarily squirt jets of poison from itsparotoids.

Herpetofauna de serrapilheira da Reserva Florestal de Morro Grande, Cotia (SP) / Leaf litter herpetofauna of the Reserva Florestal de Morro Grande, Cotia (SP)

Apresentamos uma lista comentada de anuros, lagartos e serpentes registrados na Reserva Florestal de Morro Grande, Cotia, São Paulo. Essa lista inclui 27 espécies de anuros, cinco de lagartos e três de serpentes, capturados principalmente em armadilhas de interceptação e queda, mas também em encontros ocasionais no campo. Dezoito espécies de anuros capturadas em armadilhas de interceptação e queda foram utilizadas para a comparação de seis áreas da Reserva, três situadas em áreas de vegetação predominantemente secundária e três em áreas de vegetação predominantemente madura. As análises indicam que existe diferença significativa entre esses ambientes. Nós também comparamos a similaridade entre a anurofauna da Reserva Florestal de Morro Grande à de outras seis localidades do estado de São Paulo. A anurofauna da Reserva é mais similar àquela encontrada em outras localidades do planalto Atlântico, que àquela de localidades da baixada litorânea. O pequeno número de espécies de répteis amostrados não permitiu realizar as mesmas análises feitas para os anuros. A baixa abundância desses animais na floresta tornou a comparação entre áreas problemática. Existe uma evidente falta de informações sobre a biologia, distribuição e conservação da herpetofauna brasileira que poder ser mitigada através de inventários e monitoramento da fauna. O conhecimento da história natural, resultantes desses esforços, podem trazer argumentos sólidos para um planejamento eficiente de medidas conservacionistas.

We present an annotated list of anurans, lizards, and snakes registered at the Reserva Florestal de Morro Grande, Cotia, State of São Paulo. The list includes 27 anurans, five lizards and three snakes captured mainly in pitfall traps and encountered during field surveys. Eighteen species of anurans captured from pitfall traps were used to compare six areas sampled inside the Reserve, three in secondary forest and three in mature forest. The analysis showed significant differences among secondary and mature forest. We also compared the similarity of the anurofauna of the Reserve to those of six other Atlantic Forest localities inside the State. The anurofauna found at the Reserve is more similar to that found in other localities at the Atlantic plateau than those from coastal plains. The small number of reptiles specimens captured in pitfall traps precluded the same analyses made for anurans. The low abundance of these animals inside the forest limited our ability to compare different areas. There is an evident lack of information on the biology, distribution and conservation status on Brazilian herpetofauna that could be filled by inventory and monitoring of this fauna. Only natural history knowledge can lead to efficient conservation planning of these species.