Amphibians in Zootaxa: 20 years documenting the global diversity of frogs, salamanders, and caecilians

Zootaxa is a mega-journal that since its inception, 20 years ago, has contributed to the documentation of the planet?s biodiversity. Its role concerning terrestrial vertebrates has been crucial especially for amphibians, which are the most threatened class of vertebrates. As current editors of the Amphibia section, we reviewed the state of knowledge of taxonomic publications on amphibians over the last two decades (from 2001 to 2020). Our review reveals that 2,533 frogs, 259 salamanders, and 55 caecilians have been named in these 20 years, mainly in the tropical regions of South America, Asia, and Africa. More than half (57%) of these species descriptions were published in only 10 journals. At least 827 species of the new amphibians (29% of the total) were described in Zootaxa. This mega-journal has served also as a place of publication for monographs and systematic reviews, in addition to short articles documenting the vocalizations of anurans and the morphology of embryos and larvae. Its efficient evaluation process, the freedom of manuscript length, including full-color figures, and free of cost for the authors, has made Zootaxa a favorite for amphibian researchers. In an era of accelerating rates of biodiversity loss, documenting, describing, naming, and proposing evolutionary scenarios for species is, more than ever, an urgent task.Fil: Rivera Correa, Mauricio. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Baldo, Juan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; ArgentinaFil: Vera Candioti, María Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Goyannes Dill Orrico, Victor. Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz; BrasilFil: Blackburn, David C.. University Of Florida. Florida Museum Of History; Estados UnidosFil: Castroviejo Fisher, Santiago. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Chan, Kin Onn. National University of Singapore; SingapurFil: Gambale, Priscilla. Universidade Federal de Goiás; BrasilFil: Gower, David J.. Natural History Museum; Reino UnidoFil: Quah, Evan S. H.. National University of Singapore; SingapurFil: Rowley, Jodi J. L.. University of New South Wales; AustraliaFil: Twomey, Evan. Goethe Universitat Frankfurt; AlemaniaFil: Vences, Miguel. Technische Universitat Carolo Wilhelmina Zu Braunschweig.; Alemani

Amphibia, Anura, Brachycephalidae, Ischnocnema verrucosa Reinhardt and Luetken, 1862: distribution extension to northeastern Brazil.

Herein I present a new geographical record of Ischnocnema verrucosa Reinhardt and Luetken, 1862 fro northeastern Brazil and briefly discuss the new record with a previous record of similar characteristics

Dendropsophus gaucheri

<i>Dendropsophus gaucheri</i>: Distribution and Evolutionary History <p> All specimens of <i>D. gaucheri</i> analyzed herein are not only recovered as a monophyletic group but also display strikingly little genetic distance among them (Mean K2P distance = 0.009). Even if not included in the molecular analyses the conspecificity of the populations in isolated savannas in Pará (Brazil) is unambiguous. This confirms the occurrence of <i>D. gaucheri</i> populations over the eastern part of the Guiana shield. This species is co-occurring in this region with at least four other member of the <i>D. microcephalus</i> group (<i>D. leali</i>, <i>D. minusculus</i>, <i>D. sp</i>. & <i>D. nanus</i>).</p> <p> The type locality (Sinnamary, French Guiana) is situated on the oriental limit of a formation of coastal savannas occurring almost continuously through Suriname to the eastern coast of Guyana. According to Ávila-Pires <i>et al</i>. (2010) <i>D. gaucheri</i> also occurs in coastal savannas of Suriname. Therefore the species probably occurs throughout this area, possibly as far as Guyana and even Venezuela. On the east however, one hilly forested area on the French Guiana coast apparently constitutes a barrier that limits the connection with coastal savannas in Amapá (Brasil). This region represents a distributional edge for many open habitat species (Lescure & Marty 2000). However, as the species is known to also occur in isolated savannas in the interior of the Guiana shield close to the Amazon River, it seems likely that <i>D. gaucheri</i> also occurs in the coastal savannas in Amapá.</p> <p> Interestingly, the genetic distance between the sample from French Guiana and samples from interior savannas is low. Given the fragmented distribution of the habitat of this species, this isolation is probably recent. Since the data are very limited, any further interpretation is subject to caution. Nevertheless, we argue that these data provide interesting support for hypothesized forest openings during Quaternary, a highly controversial subject (Haffer 2008; Colinvaux <i>et al</i>. 2000; Bush 1994). A similar pattern of isolated populations with low genetic divergence has been observed in <i>Crotalus durissus</i> by Wüster <i>et al</i>. (2005). They interpreted such pattern in an open habitat species as the testimony of dispersal during periods of forest opening in Amazonia. Initially, the observed biogeographic patterns in Amazonia led Haffer (1969) to suggest isolation of moist forest refugia during periods of increased aridity coincident with temperate glacial maxima. However, palynology, geomorphology (Colinvaux <i>et al</i>. 2000) and climate modeling (Mayle <i>et al</i>. 2004) suggests that Quaternary climatic changes were not strong enough to produce broad fragmentation of Amazonian forest. Though there is little empirical data supporting broad scale turnover of biomes (forest vs. savannas) within Amazonia, there is evidence that peripheral and ecotonal areas, like in the GS, have suffered reduced precipitation and forest fragmentation (Mayle <i>et al</i>. 2004). In French Guiana, palynological evidence suggests two phases of forest retreat at least during the Holocene (Ledru <i>et al</i>. 2000) and charcoal deposits indicate widespread burning during this time (Charles-Dominique <i>et al</i>. 1998). Moreover, patches of savanna and different types of forests peppered through the eastern GS are the testimony of these recent changes in vegetation distribution (Servant 2000). Further investigation focusing on comparing phylogeographic patterns across open habitat adapted species vs. forest adapted species should provide important insights into how these changes have impacted biodiversity in Amazonia.</p>Published as part of <i>Fouquet, Antoine, Noonan, Brice P., Blanc, Michel & Orrico, Victor Goyannes Dill, 2011, Phylogenetic position of Dendropsophus gaucheri (Lescure and Marty 2000) highlights the need for an in-depth investigation of the phylogenetic relationships of Dendropsophus (Anura: Hylidae), pp. 59-67 in Zootaxa 3035</i> on page 65, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/206489">10.5281/zenodo.206489</a&gt

The tadpole of Phyllodytes praeceptor (Anura: Hylidae)

Santos, Leandro Oliveira, Costa, Renan Nunes, Solé, Mirco, Orrico, Victor Goyannes Dill (2019): The tadpole of Phyllodytes praeceptor (Anura: Hylidae). Zootaxa 4623 (2): 381-386, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4623.2.1

FIGURE 4. Hypsiboas latistriatus. UNIRIO 2335-E. keratinized teeth. A in The tadpole of Hypsiboas latistriatus (Caramaschi & Cruz, 2004), a species of the Hypsiboas polytaenius (Cope, 1870) clade (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

FIGURE 4. Hypsiboas latistriatus. UNIRIO 2335-E. keratinized teeth. A. sample of row A-2; B. pair of individual teeth, ventral view; C. Head of one tooth. D. individual tooth, lateral view. All bars equal 5 µm.Published as part of <i>Orrico, Victor Goyannes Dill, Mongin, Marcelle Mantoanelli & Carvalho-E-Sliva, Ana Maria Paulino Telles De, 2007, The tadpole of Hypsiboas latistriatus (Caramaschi & Cruz, 2004), a species of the Hypsiboas polytaenius (Cope, 1870) clade (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae), pp. 25-37 in Zootaxa 1531 (1531)</i> on page 31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1531.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10088273">http://zenodo.org/record/10088273</a&gt

FIGURE 3 in The tadpole of Hypsiboas latistriatus (Caramaschi & Cruz, 2004), a species of the Hypsiboas polytaenius (Cope, 1870) clade (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

FIGURE 3. Hypsiboas latistriatus. advanced tadpole (Stage= 38) 2335-B. A. Dorsal view; B. Lateral view; C. Enlarged section of left posterior limb showing the typical stripes. D. Fully developed juvenile UNIRIO 2339.Published as part of <i>Orrico, Victor Goyannes Dill, Mongin, Marcelle Mantoanelli & Carvalho-E-Sliva, Ana Maria Paulino Telles De, 2007, The tadpole of Hypsiboas latistriatus (Caramaschi & Cruz, 2004), a species of the Hypsiboas polytaenius (Cope, 1870) clade (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae), pp. 25-37 in Zootaxa 1531 (1531)</i> on page 30, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1531.1.2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10088273">http://zenodo.org/record/10088273</a&gt

The tadpole of Hypsiboas latistriatus (Caramaschi & Cruz, 2004), a species of the Hypsiboas polytaenius (Cope, 1870) clade (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

Orrico, Victor Goyannes Dill, Mongin, Marcelle Mantoanelli, Carvalho-E-Sliva, Ana Maria Paulino Telles De (2007): The tadpole of Hypsiboas latistriatus (Caramaschi & Cruz, 2004), a species of the Hypsiboas polytaenius (Cope, 1870) clade (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae). Zootaxa 1531 (1531): 25-37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1531.1.