Habitat heterogeneity and use of physical and acoustic space in anuran communities in Southeastern Brazil

We intended to verify if structural and physiognomical characteristics of water bodies influence on the degree of overlap among calling sites of 23 anurans species, if anuran species use different calling sites in different water bodies, and if there is some relationship between the degree of advertisement call (based on seven call features) and calling site differentiation. Then, we determined calling sites (based in four variables) and recorded the advertisement call for anuran species that occurred in 10 water bodies of northwestern São Paulo State. We also determined the environmental heterogeneity (based in four environmental descriptors) for each water body. Males of most species used similar calling sites in each water body, probably because of the high uniformity of the environment, as a consequence of agricultural impacts on edge vegetation of the studied ponds. Most species (18 out of 19 species) called from different sites in the ponds where they occurred, which can be associated with differences in horizontal and vertical distribution of vegetation in the studied ponds. From the 19 species analyzed, only males of Pseudopaludicola aff. saltica called in sites with the same characteristics in different ponds. Advertisement call of Hylidae species was more similar to each other than were Leiuperidae and Leptodactylidae among themselves. The aquatic/terrestrial anurans (Bufonidae, Leiuperidae, Leptodactylidae and Microhylidae) occupied similar calling sites but presented quite distinct advertisement calls, while Hylidae species presented an inverse pattern: a high similarity on advertisement call features but used different calling sites, which indicates a niche complementarity between physical (calling site use) and acoustic (advertisement call) space use

Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae, Dendropsophus melanargyreus (Cope, 1887): distribution extension, new state record and geographic distribution map

We present the first record of Dendropsophus melanargyreus for the state of São Paulo and a distribution map for this species. This new record represents the southeastern limit of distribution, which is 106 Km from the nearest locality previously recorded for this species and is the fourth new register of anuran to northwestern region of São Paulo in the last two years, increasing species list of the region from 33 to 36 species. This results evidence the importance of this region as priority area for inventory

Distribuição temporal, sincronia reprodutiva e padrões de acasalamento do sapo de reprodução explosiva Dermatonotus muelleri (Anura: Microhylidae)

The knowledge about natural history of a species is fundamental for the proposition of theories in population, community, and behavioral ecology. Dermatonotus muelleri (Boettger, 1885) is one of the several Neotropical anuran species that still lacks basic information. These frogs are widely distributed in South America and present many peculiar morphological features, such as a reduced head size and a tongue morphology that suggests a specialized diet in ants and termites. However, D. muelleri is rare in anuran surveys, because of the explosive breeding behavior, which restrict its occurrence in aquatic habitats to few days a year, and the semi-fossorial habit, making the individuals inactive during most part of the year. In this study, we describe the reproductive ecology of Dermatonotus muelleri, with special attention to the mechanisms that regulates (i) the reproductive synchrony between males and females and (ii) the operational sex ratio (OSR), and (iii) if size is a good predictor of pairs formation (assortative mating)

Comparative cytogenetic analysis of some species of the Dendropsophus microcephalus group (Anura, Hylidae) in the light of phylogenetic inferences

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Chromosomal analysis of the leptodactylids Pleurodema diplolistris and Physalaemus nattereri (Amphibia, Anura)

Detailed characterizations of the karyotypes of the Brazilian leptodactylid frogs Pleurodema diplolistris, the only species of Pleurodema not studied cytogenetically so far, and Physalaemus nattereri, a species in the Ph. biligonigerus group, are presented. Both karyotypes had 2n = 22 and their chromosomes had a very similar morphology, except for pair 11, which was metacentric in Pl. diplolistris and telocentric in Ph. nattereri. The localization of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) and heterochromatic bands allowed the differentiation of chromosomes that were morphologically indistinguishable between these species, such as pairs 1, 3 and 10, which showed interstitial C-bands in Ph. nattereri, and pair 8, that had an NOR and an adjacent C-band in Pl. diplolistris. Pair 8 also has NOR-bearing chromosomes in many other Pleurodema species. However, in these species, the NOR is located proximal to the centromere on the short arm, while in Pl. diplolistris it occurred distally on the long arm, a condition that may be considered a derived state. In Ph. nattereri, the NOR occurred on chromosome I 1 and differed from the other species of the Ph. biligonigerus group. In contrast, C-banding revealed a heterochromatic block near the centromere on the short arm of pair 3, a characteristic common to all members of this group of Physalaemus.27448148

Amphibia, Anura, Microhylidae, Chiasmocleis albopunctata: filling gap and geographic distribution map

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Amphibians of São Paulo State, Brazil: state-of-art and perspectives

The last list of species of the state of São Paulo State was updated and totaled 236 species of amphibians, 230 of which are anurans and six are caecilians. Bokermannohyla gouveai and Sphaenorhynchus surdus were removed from this list, because they did not occur in the State of São Paulo. The number of anuran species recorded comprise 27% of the species richness of the country and an increase by 31% in the number of species recorded for the state since 1998. Thus, despite the State of São Paulo be the Brazilian region where the anurans have been most studied, these data show that the number of known species tends to increase in the next years. We have identified two major geographical gaps of inventory: the southwest of the state, especially in the Paranapanema river basin and the northeast region, mainly at the border between the States of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Although both have been sampled recently, information is still lacking. The current state of knowledge and perspectives in the areas such as taxonomy, systematics, ecology and conservation are evaluated.A última lista de espécies do Estado de São Paulo foi atualizada, totalizando 236 espécies de anfíbios, das quais 230 são anuros e seis são Gymnophiona. Foram removidos da lista Bokermannohyla gouveai e Sphaenorhynchus surdus por não ocorrerem no Estado de São Paulo. O número de espécies de anuros registrado representa 27% da riqueza de espécies do país e um aumento de 31% em relação ao número de espécies registradas para o Estado em 1998, demonstrando que, a despeito do Estado de São Paulo ser a região brasileira onde os anuros foram mais estudados, o número de espécies conhecidas deve aumentar nos próximos anos. Foram evidenciadas duas lacunas geográficas importantes: a região sudoeste do Estado, principalmente na bacia hidrográfica do rio Paranapanema e a região nordeste, principalmente na divisa entre os Estados de Minas Gerais e São Paulo. Apesar de ambas terem sido amostradas recentemente, ainda há carência de informações. O estado atual do conhecimento e perspectivas nas áreas de taxonomia, sistemática, ecologia e conservação são avaliados.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Estadual PaulistaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Ciências BiológicasUniversidade de São Paulo Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Gestão AmbientalUNIFESP, Depto. de Ciências BiológicasSciEL

Comparative Cytogenetic Analysis Of Some Species Of The Dendropsophus Microcephalus Group (anura, Hylidae) In The Light Of Phylogenetic Inferences.

Dendropsophus is a monophyletic anuran genus with a diploid number of 30 chromosomes as an important synapomorphy. However, the internal phylogenetic relationships of this genus are poorly understood. Interestingly, an intriguing interspecific variation in the telocentric chromosome number has been useful in species identification. To address certain uncertainties related to one of the species groups of Dendropsophus, the D. microcephalus group, we carried out a cytogenetic analysis combined with phylogenetic inferences based on mitochondrial sequences, which aimed to aid in the analysis of chromosomal characters. Populations of Dendropsophus nanus, Dendropsophus walfordi, Dendropsophus sanborni, Dendropsophus jimi and Dendropsophus elianeae, ranging from the extreme south to the north of Brazil, were cytogenetically compared. A mitochondrial region of the ribosomal 12S gene from these populations, as well as from 30 other species of Dendropsophus, was used for the phylogenetic inferences. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses. The species D. nanus and D. walfordi exhibited identical karyotypes (2n = 30; FN = 52), with four pairs of telocentric chromosomes and a NOR located on metacentric chromosome pair 13. In all of the phylogenetic hypotheses, the paraphyly of D. nanus and D. walfordi was inferred. D. sanborni from Botucatu-SP and Torres-RS showed the same karyotype as D. jimi, with 5 pairs of telocentric chromosomes (2n = 30; FN = 50) and a terminal NOR in the long arm of the telocentric chromosome pair 12. Despite their karyotypic similarity, these species were not found to compose a monophyletic group. Finally, the phylogenetic and cytogenetic analyses did not cluster the specimens of D. elianeae according to their geographical occurrence or recognized morphotypes. We suggest that a taxonomic revision of the taxa D. nanus and D. walfordi is quite necessary. We also observe that the number of telocentric chromosomes is useful to distinguish among valid species in some cases, although it is unchanged in species that are not necessarily closely related phylogenetically. Therefore, inferences based on this chromosomal character must be made with caution; a proper evolutionary analysis of the karyotypic variation in Dendropsophus depends on further characterization of the telocentric chromosomes found in this group.145