south AMericAn JournAL of herPetoLogy – sAJh Volume 3
Number 1
April 2008
Contents A new reproductive mode in the genus Melanophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) with description of a new species from the state of Paraná, Brazil Jose A. LAngone, MAgno V. segALLA, MArcos Bornschein, And rAfAeL o. de sá ................................................1
Volume 3
Reproductive behaviour of Melanophryniscus sp. from Sierra de la Ventana (Buenos Aires, Argentina) sAMAntA L. cAiro, sergio M. ZALBA, And cArMen A. ÚBedA ...............................................................................10 Reproductive ecology of Leptodactylus aff hylaedactylus (Anura, Leptodactylidae) from an open area in northern Brazil MArceLo n. de c. KoKuBuM And Moisés BArBosA de sousA ................................................................................15 A new species of Dendrophryniscus, Jiménez de la Espada, 1871 (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae) from the atlantic rain forest of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil cArLos ALBerto gonçALVes cruZ And LuciAnA Ardenghi fusinAtto ...................................................................22 A new species of Hypsiboas (Anura: Hylidae) from the atlantic forest of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, with comments on its conservation status PAuLo c. A. gArciA, o. L. Peixoto, And céLio f. B. hAddAd ...............................................................................27 Rediscovery of Melanophryniscus pachyrhynus (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920) (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae) in southern Brazil, with addenda to species redescription WiLiAn VAZ-siLVA, rAfAeL Lucchesi BALestrin, And MArcos di-BernArdo.........................................................36 Ontogenetic changes in the venom of Bothrops insularis (Serpentes: Viperidae)and its biological implication André ZeLAnis, siLViA reginA trAVAgLiA-cArdoso, And MAriA de fátiMA doMingues furtAdo .........................43 Calling activity and agonistic behavior of Pseudis minuta Günther, 1858 (Anura, Hylidae, Hylinae) in the Reserva Biológica do Lami, Porto Alegre, Brazil cAroLine ZAnK, MArcos di-BernArdo, rodrigo LingnAu, PAtricK coLoMBo, LuciAnA A. fusinAtto, And Luis f. M. dA fonte ........................................................................................................................................51 How to be arboreal and diurnal and still stay alive: microhabitat use, time of activity, and defense in neotropical forest snakes MArcio MArtins, otAVio A. V. MArques, And iVAn sAZiMA...................................................................................58 Temporal variation in the abundance and number of species of frogs in 10,000 ha of a forest in central amazonia, Brazil MArceLo Menin, fABiAno WALdeZ, And ALBertinA P. LiMA ..................................................................................68 Predation by lizards as a mortality source for juvenile lizards in Brazil cArLA dA costA siqueirA And cArLos frederico duArte rochA .........................................................................82
ISSN 1808-9798
Number 1
April 2008
South AmericAn JournAl of herpetology – SAJh
InstructIons to Authors (AprIl 2008)
www.sbherpetologia.org.br/SAJH
The South American Journal of Herpetology (ISSN 1808-9798) is an international journal, published by the Brazilian Society of Herpetology Receiving Editor
Managing Editor
Hussam Zaher Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo Avenida Nazaré, 481, Ipiranga, 04263-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Tel. (55 11) 6165-8090 Submit all manuscripts to:
[email protected]
Magno Segalla Museu de História Natural Capão da Imbuia Rua Benedito Conceição, 407, 82810-080, Curitiba, PR, Brasil For help with submission, contact the Managing Editor at:
[email protected]
Associate Editors Carlos Alberto Gonçalves da Cruz Carlos Arturo Navas Iannini Carlos Jared Gustavo Scrocchi Marcio Martins Rafael de Sá
Museu Nacional – Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Universidade de São Paulo – São Paulo, SP, Brazil Instituto Butantan – São Paulo, SP, Brazil Instituto Miguel Lillo – San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina Universidade de São Paulo – São Paulo, SP, Brazil University of Richmond – Richmond, VA, U.S.A.
International Advisory Board
Editorial Board
Esteban Lavilla (Instituto Miguel Lillo, Argentina) Göran Nilson (University of Gotemborg, Sweden) Harry Greene (Cornell University, U.S.A.) Ignacio de La Riva (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain) John D. Lynch (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia) Jose A. Langone (Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Uruguay) Josefa Celsa Señaris (Museo de Historia Natural La Salle, Venezuela) Joseph R. Mendelson III (Zoo Atlanta, U.S.A.) Laurie Vitt (University of Oklahoma, U.S.A.) Linda Trueb (University of Kansas, U.S.A.) Marco Altamirano (Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Ecuador) Mark Wilkinson (Natural History Museum, U.K.) Oscar Flores-Villela (Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico) Roy McDiarmid (National Museum of Natural History, U.S.A.) Steffen Reichle (The Nature Conservancy, Bolivia) Walter Hödl (Univertät Wien, Austria) William Ronald Heyer (National Museum of Natural History, U.S.A.)
Ana Lucia Prudente (Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Brazil) Antônio Sebben (Universidade de Brasília, Brazil) Augusto S. Abe (Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil) Carlos Frederico Duarte da Rocha (Univ. Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Célio F. B. Haddad (Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil) Denise C. Rossa-Feres (Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil) Guarino Colli (Universidade de Brasília, Brazil) Helio Ricardo Silva (Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Ivan Sazima (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil) José Perez Pombal Jr. (Museu Nacional, Brazil) Marinus Hoogmoed (Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Brazil) Marta Antoniazzi (Instituto Butantan, Brazil) Miguel T. U. Rodrigues (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) Monique Van Sluys (Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Oswaldo L. Peixoto (Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Otávio Marques (Instituto Butantan, Brazil) Ricardo Sawaya (Instituto Butantan, Brazil) Rogério Pereira Bastos (Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil) Ronaldo Fernandes (Museu Nacional, Brazil) Sérgio Potsch de Carvalho e Silva (Univ. Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Tereza Cristina Ávila-Pires (Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Brazil) Ulisses Caramaschi (Museu Nacional, Brazil)
BrAziliAn Society of herpetology www.sbherpetologia.org.br
President: Secretary: Second Secretary: Treasurer: Second Treasurer: Advisory Board:
Magno Vicente Segalla Carlos Eduardo Conte Fausto Nomura Giovanna Gondim Montingelli Fernanda Stender de Oliveira Bruno Vergueiro Silva Pimenta, Julio César de Moura-Leite, Luciana Nascimento, Marcio Martins and Ulisses Caramaschi. © Sociedade Brasileira de Herpetologia
The South American Journal of Herpetology is distributed to all members of the Brazilian Society of Herpetology (BSH). Brazilian researchers may become member of the BSH by following instructions at http://www.sbherpetologia.org.br. Researchers from outside Brazil may become member of the BSH by following instructions at http://www.herplit.com/SAJH.html. SAJH is indexed in Zoological Record by Thompson Biosis (UK). Inner Diagram: Airton de Almeida Cruz Cover Photo: New Melanophryniscus described in pp. 01-09 inside a bromelia, its breeding site. Photographed by Magno Segalla.
General InformatIon The South American Journal of Herpetology (SAJH) is an international journal, published by the Brazilian Society of Herpetology, that aims to provide an effective medium of communication for the international herpetological community. SAJH publishes original contributions on the Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles, covering primarily the fields of systematics, paleontology, evolutionary biology, ecology, natural history, taxonomy, behavior, anatomy, functional morphology, comparative morphology and physiology, ecophysiology, genetics, molecular biology, ontogeny, biogeography, and conservation biology. SAJH also encourages submission of eminently theoretical studies that explore principles and methods on these fields. All contributions must follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and relevant specimens should be properly curated and deposited in a recognized public or private, non-profit institution. Authors should observe appropriate ethical and legal guidelines and regulations for any study that involve live organisms. Therefore authors are encouraged to indicate in the acknowledgment section proper collecting permits and protocols approved for field and laboratory researches. Tissue samples should be referred to their voucher specimens and all nucleotide sequence data (aligned as well as unaligned) should be submitted to Genbank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genebank/) or EMBL (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/) shortly after publication. SubmISSIon of manuScrIptS All the submission and review process is done electronically. Thus manuscripts should be sent electronically only to the Editor (Hussam Zaher,
[email protected]). Manuscripts are considered on the understanding that they have not been published and/or will not appear elsewhere in substantially the same or abbreviated form. The criteria for acceptance of articles are quality and relevance of research, clarity of text, and compliance with the guidelines for manuscript preparation. All manuscripts should be written in English, using U.S. spelling and grammar conventions, and should include an abstract in English and its translation either in Portuguese or Spanish. Text should be submitted in MS Word (*.doc), preferably for PC, and must include line numbers (see below for specific procedure). Artwork and photographs should be submitted as electronic files, in *.jpg format only. Manuscripts will be assigned to Associate Editors, who in turn will seek two or three reviews of each submission. Once a manuscript is accepted providing changes suggested by the referees, the author is requested to return a revised electronic version and a detailed letter addressing how reviewers’ suggestions were incorporated within two weeks upon receiving the communication by the Associate Editor. Communications regarding acceptance or rejection of manuscripts are made through correspondence with the first or corresponding author only. When the manuscript is accepted for publication, authors will be asked to provide updated electronic files of the text in *.doc, and relevant graphic files produced in high quality *.jpg file (at least 8 cm wide with 350 dpi). Submission of hard copies by mail will not be accepted. no figures should be embedded in text files. proofs. Page-proofs with the revised version will be sent electronically to the first or corresponding author. Page-proofs must be returned to the editor within 48 hours. Failure to return the proof promptly may be interpreted as approval with no changes and/ or may delay publication. Only necessary corrections in proof will be permitted. Once page proof is sent to the author, further alterations and/or significant additions of text are permitted only at the author’s expense or in the form of a brief appendix (“note added in proof”). manuScrIpt form Authors are requested to pay close attention to the instructions concerning the preparation of manuscripts. Close adherence to the guidelines will expedite processing of the manuscript, whereas manuscripts deviating from the required form will be returned for revision prior to review. Manuscripts should not exceed 30 pages of double-spaced typescript on 21 x 29.7 cm (A4 format) paper (Letter format will not be accepted), with wide margins (2.5 cm). The pages of the manuscript should be numbered consecutively. The text must include line numbers, which are activated through the “page Setup” command of the “file”menu in a Word document (go to “layout” and activate “line numbers”). Scientific names should appear in italics. The article should be arranged in the following order: title page, abstracts, body of text, literature cited, appendices, tables and figure captions, tables, and figures. Each of these sections should begin on a new page. All typescript pages must be double-spaced. Title page. This should include the title with all letters capitalized, author(s) name(s) in small caps, their address(es) (including electronic address), and between 3-8 Key words in English. Multiauthors manuscripts must identify a corresponding author and address. The title should be concise and, where appropriate, should include mention of families and/or higher taxa. Names of new taxa should not be included in titles. Example: How to be arboreal and diurnal and still stay alive: microhabitat use, time of activity, and defense in Neotropical forest snakes Marcio Martins1,4, Otavio A. V. Marques2 and Ivan Sazima3 Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508‑090, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. E‑mail:
[email protected] 2 Laboratório de Herpetologia, Instituto Butantan, Avenida Doutor Vital Brazil, 1500, 05503‑900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. E‑mail:
[email protected] 3 Departamento de Zoologia e Museu de História Natural, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083‑970, Campinas, SP, Brazil. E‑mail:
[email protected] 4 Corresponding author.
Abstract page. All papers should have an abstract in English followed by its translation in Portuguese or Spanish. The abstract is of great importance as it may be reproduced elsewhere. It should be in a form intelligible if published alone and should summarize the main facts, ideas, and conclusions of the article. Indicative abstracts are strongly discouraged. Include all new taxonomic names for referencing purposes. Abbreviations should be avoided. It should not include references. Body of text. The main body of the text should include the following sections: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Acknowledgments. Primary headings in the text should be in capital letters and centered; the following text should begin on the next line, indented. Secondary headings should be in capital and lowercase letters and flush left; the following text should begin on the next line, indented. Tertiary headings should be in capital and lower case letters, in italics and indented; the following text should be on the same line and separated from the heading by a hyphen. Literature cited. Citations in the text should be arranged in chronological order first and alphabetical order second. Citation in text should be given as: Silva (1998)…, Silva (1998: 14-20)…, Silva (1998: figs. 1, 2)…, Silva (1998a, b)…, Silva and Oliveira (1998)…, (Silva, 1998)…, (Rangel, 1890; Silva and Oliveira, 1998a, b; Adams, 2000)…, (H. R. Silva, pers. comm.)…, (Silva et al., 1998), the latter when the paper has three or more authors. The reference need not be cited when author and date are given only as authority for a taxonomic name. The literature section should be arranged strictly alphabetically and given in the following format: Journal article – Silva, H. R., H. Oliveira, and S. Rangel. Year. Article title. Journal name, 00: 000-000. Journal names must be fully spelled out. books – Silva, H. R. Year. Book title. Publisher, Place, 000 pp. articles in books – Silva, H. R. Year. Article title; pp. 000-000. In: H. Oliveira and S. Rangel (Eds.), Book Title. Publisher, Place. articles in larger Works – Silva, H. R. Year. Article title; pp. 000-000. In: H. Oliveira and S. Rangel (Eds.), Title of Larger Work. Serial Publication 00. Publisher, Place. Dissertations and theses – Silva, H. R. Year. Dissertation title. Ph.D. dissertation, University, Place, 000 pp. Appendices, Tables, Figures, Tables and Figure captions. These should be arranged sequentially after the literature section of the manuscript, in the following order: Appendices, table and figure captions (together in the same section), tables, and figures. Each of these sections should begin in a new page. appendices. Appendices should be numbered using Roman numerals and must be numbered in the same sequence in which they appear in the text where they are referred as Appendix I, Appendix I-IV, etc. Use “APPENDIX” in the appendix heading. tables. Tables should be on separate pages and they must be numbered in the same sequence in which they appear in the text. Authors are encouraged to indicate where the tables should be placed in the text. They should be comprehensible without reference to the text. Tables should be formatted with horizontal, not vertical, rules. In the text, tables should be referred as Table 1, Tables 2 and 3, Tables 2-6. Use “TABLE” in the table heading. Illustrations/photographs. The number and size of the illustrations must be kept to the minimum required for clarification of the text. Previously published figures cannot be accepted. Figures should be on separate pages and numbered consecutively in the same sequence they appear in the text. Figure captions should be on a separate page preceding the figures. Separate illustrations of a composite figure should be identified by capital letters and referred in the text as so (Fig. 1A). Where possible, letters should be placed in the lower right corner of each illustration of a composite figure. Hand-written lettering on illustrations are unacceptable. A scale bar should be marked on each figure so that absolute sizes are clearly apparent and any reduction is automatically compensated for. The length of the scale bar should be stated in the caption. On no account should magnification factors (e.g. x7000; x80000) be expressed in the captions. SAJH accepts only figures in electronic version. Hard copies of figures sent by mail will not be accepted. Figures should be submitted in easy to load files in *.pdf, *.ppt or *.jpg format. Final figures should be sent to the Editor in high quality electronic formats only (*.jpg or *.tif) with at least 8 cm wide and 350 dpi. Figures should be mounted in order to minimize blank areas between separate illustrations. Costs for printing high quality color figures will be in charge of the author(s). For referring to figures in the text, authors should use “(Fig(s).)” and “Figure(s)”, but “FIGURE(S)” in the figure captions and “(fig(s).)” when referring to figures in another paper. Authors are encouraged to indicate where the figures should be placed in the text.
1
Key words: Defense; Habitat; Amazonia; Atlantic Forest; Brazil.
Note: Authors having funds available for publication costs are encouraged to contribute US$ 30.00 per printed article.
For other details of manuscript preparation of format, consult the CBE Style Manual, available from the Council of Science Editors (http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/pubs).
South American Journal of Herpetology, 3(1), 2008, 1-9 © 2008 Brazilian Society of Herpetology
A new reproductive mode in the genus Melanophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) with description of a new species from the state of Paraná, Brazil Jose A. Langone1,5, Magno V. Segalla2, Marcos Bornschein3, and Rafael O. de Sá4 Departamento de Herpetología. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural y Antropología. Casilla de Correo 399. 11.000. Montevideo. Uruguay. E‑mail:
[email protected] 2 Laboratório de Herpetologia. Museu de História Natural Capão da Imbuia. 82810‑080, Curitiba, PR, Brasil. E‑mail:
[email protected] 3 Liga Ambiental, Rua Olga de Araujo Spindola, 1380, Bl. N, Ap. 31. 81050‑280, Curitiba, PR, Brasil. E‑mail:
[email protected] 4 Department of Biology, University of Richmond. Richmond, Virginia, 23171, USA. E‑mail:
[email protected] 5 Corresponding Author. 1
Abstract. A new species of bufonid toad of the genus Melanophryniscus is described from a mountaintop that is part of the Serra do Mar in the northeastern State of Paraná, Brazil. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. is distinguished from other known species by its uniformly dark brown dorsal color and a unique breeding site. The new species reproduces in bromeliads, a reproductive mode previously unknown for this genus. This species might be susceptible to current habitat lost. Keywords. Anura, Bufonidae, Melanophryniscus alipioi, new species, bromeligenous species.
Introduction The genus Melanophryniscus Gallardo, 1961, is considered a basal, monophyletic, bufonid taxon (Graybeal and Cannatella, 1995; Frost et al. 2006) currently consisting of 20 described species distrib‑ uted from southern Brazil, throughout Paraguay and southern Bolivia, to central and northern Argentina, and Uruguay (Frost, 2007; Di-Bernardo et al., 2006). Some species have restricted distributions and/or are considered endangered taxa (IUCN et al., 2004). The species in this genus have been clustered into three species groups: moreirae group, tumifrons group, and stelzneri group (Cruz and Caramaschi, 2003). These groups are loosely defined and lack diagnos‑ tic characteristics, except for the M. tumifrons group for which the presence of a frontal macrogland (sensu Naya et al., 2004, based on a histological analysis of the skin) has been proposed as a synapomorphy for the group. This gland, referred as a frontal swelling, also was considered as a putative synapomorphy by Baldo and Basso (2004). Herein we describe a new species of Mela‑ nophryniscus and report the occurrence of a new re‑ productive mode for the genus. Materials and Methods Type specimens are deposited at Museu de História Natural Capão da Imbuia, Curitiba, Brazil (MHNCI);
Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (MNRJ); and Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, Bra‑ zil (MZUSP). All comparative material are listed and catalogue numbers are provided in Appendix I. Measurements were taken with calipers to the nearest 0.02 mm;, all measurements are provided in Table 1. Geographic coordinates were obtained using a Garmin Vista Global Positioning System (GPS). Developing eggs and amplectic pairs were collect‑ ed from bromeliads in the type locality on October 12, 2004. Amplectic pairs were taken to the labora‑ tory where they laid additional eggs. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. (Figs. 1 and 2) Holotype – MHNCI 5186. Adult male, collected at Serra do Capivarí (25°07’49.0”S, 48°49’16.9”W; 1491 m altitude), part of the larger Serra do Mar, Campina Grande do Sul, State of Paraná, Brazil, on 12 October 2004. Paratopotypes – MHNCI 5182‑5185, 5187‑5202, MNRJ 49769, MZUSP 132870‑132872, collected with the holotype. Diagnosis – Species of small size, without dorsal mac‑ rogland on snout; dorsal, lateral, and ventral body sur‑ faces scattered with medium to large size glands, dor‑ sal surfaces of limbs scattered with the same glands but these are slightly smaller and conical; dorsal color
A new reproductive mode in Melanophryniscus
Table 1. Measurements (mm) of paratypes of Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. Snout-vent length (SVL), Head lenght (HL), Head width (HW), Eye diameter (ED), Interocular Distance (IOD), Internarial distance (IND), Eye-nostril distance (END), Upper eyelid lenght (UEL), Thigh length (TL), Shank lenght (SL), Foot length (FL), Hand Lenght (HL). Males (n = 20) SVL
HL
HW
ED
IOD
IND
END
UEL
TL
SL
FL
HL
x
21.06
6.19
6.81
2.04
2.92
1.72
1.88
2.87
8.20
7.58
8.02
5.29
S.D.
0.85
0.82
0.45
0.23
0.21
0.21
0.13
0.29
0.74
0.81
0.60
0.25
Max
22.66
7.00
7.50
2.52
3.30
2.11
2.00
3.50
9.00
8.50
8.83
5.70
Min
19.45
4.50
6.00
1.50
2.50
1.50
1.64
2.50
6.50
5.00
7.00
5.00
Females (n = 3) x
SVL
HL
HW
ED
IOD
IND
END
UEL
TL
SL
FL
HL
25.26
6.35
7.22
2.41
3.24
2.16
1.96
3.19
9.37
25.26
6.35
7.22
S.D.
0.59
0.36
0.68
0.36
0.25
0.16
0.10
0.37
0.32
0.59
0.36
0.68
Max
25.64
6.60
8.00
2.68
3.49
2.32
2.03
3.62
9.59
25.64
6.60
8.00
Min
24.58
5.94
6.80
2.00
3.00
2.00
1.85
2.96
9.0
24.58
5.94
6.80
of head, body, and upper surfaces of the hind limbs uniformly dark brown; color of ventral surfaces dark brown, with large, irregular shaped, and uniformly bright red spots on each side of the pectoral area, ex‑ tending slightly onto the ventral surface of the arms. The same uniformly bright red color is also found across the posterior abdominal area and on the ventral
Figure 1. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov., holotype, MHNCI 5186. (A) Lateral view of head. (B) Hand. (C) Foot. Bar = 1 mm.
surfaces of hands and feet, extending over the lateral surface of the digits and on the dorsal surface of the toe tips. On the ventral surface of body, a few scattered white dots are found over the red color. The pupil is surrounded by a golden iris, which is finely spotted or reticulated with dark brown markings. This species reproduces, i.e., calls and deposit eggs, in bromeliads. Melanophryniscus alipioi is most similar to M. moreirae (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920) in the mac‑ rohabitat that they occupy, i.e., open formation sur‑ rounded by forested areas in coastal mountains of southern and southeastern Brazil at high elevations (above 1200 m for M. alipioi and above 1800 m for M. moreirae). However, the two species can be dis‑ tinguished by the following characteristics (characters of M. moreirae are in parenthesis): dorsum uniformly dark brown (dorsum dark grey to black or brownish with scattered light areas); ventral surface dark brown with bright red areas on pectoral, posterior abdomi‑ nal, and femoral regions; bright red markings on the pectoral zone contained a few, very small, white spots (venter dark grey or black with bright red in the pec‑ toral, abdominal and femoral areas; spots densely dotted with small white spots in throat, gular and pectoral area); calling and oviposition in bromelids (calling and oviposition in pools with running wa‑ ter). The nearest population reported of M. moreirae is found 490 km northeast of the type locality of M. alipioi at Queluz, State of São Paulo (22°25’44”S, 44°50’10”W) (Marques et al., 2006). The dorsal color of M. alipioi in life is similar to M. krauczuki Baldo and Basso, 2004; a species known only from a few localities in the Argentinean Province of Misiones and one locality in the Depart‑
Langone, J. A. et al.
ment of Itapua, Paraguay (Brusquetti et al., 2007). Melanophrynisucs krauczuki occurs in semi-natural environments communities and grasslands at low el‑ evations (125‑165 m, Baldo and Basso, 2004). Fur‑ thermore, the two species can be distinguished by the more extensive webbing in the foot of M. krauczuki; its ventral color consisting of a dark brown back‑ ground with irregular orange spots and an orange-red femoral spot, and the presence of several white spots on the surface of the lower jaw. The new species differs from species in the tumi‑ frons group by the absence of a frontal macrogland. Furthermore, Melanophryniscus alipioi is easily dis‑ tinguished from the other Brazilian members of the genus without frontal macrogland. From the recently
described M. admirabilis Di-Bernardo, Maneyro, and Grillo, 2006, from the State of Rio Grande do Sul, by the larger size of the later species (SVL 30‑40 mm), its overall pale green dorsal color, and the presence of large, yellowish skin glands on dorsal, lateral, and ventral body surfaces. From M. atroluteus (MirandaRibeiro, 1920), distributed from Misiones Province, Argentina, throughout Uruguay reaching southern Paraguay and the northeastern and western regions of Rio Grande do Sul and presumably southern Santa Catarina, Brazil, because this species has a uniformly black dorsum (Kwet et al., 2005). Furthermore, the texture of the dorsal skin of M. atroluteus has more and smaller skin glands than those found on the dor‑ sal surface of M. alipioi. Melanophryniscus dorsalis
Figure 2. (A) Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov., holotype, MHNCI in its habitat. (B) Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. in its habitat. (C) Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov., MZUSP 132968, specimen at the completion of metamorphosis. (D) Egg of Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov.
A new reproductive mode in Melanophryniscus
(Mertens, 1933), found in sandy habitats of the Atlan‑ tic coast of the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, Brazil, exhibits a black dorsal color with a distinct red (brown in preservative) middorsal line, which is rarely absent but often interrupted or present only as a small trace behind the eyes and/or above anus (Kwet et al., 2005); a middorsal line is absent in M. alipioi. Melanophryniscus fulvoguttatus (Mertens, 1937), from northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, can be easily differentiated from M. alipioi by its densely granular skin with black dorsal and ventral color dotted with numerous small and irregularly shaped yellow spots and yellow blotches on the suprascapular region (Kwet et al., 2005). Melanophryniscus montevidensis (Philippi, 1902) is an exclusive sandy coastal inhabitant ex‑ tending from the Rio de la Plata and Atlantic coast of Uruguay to the southernmost part of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This species usually has yellow dorsolat‑ eral spots, but sometimes it is uniformly black (Kwet et al., 2005). Also, the skin texture is uniformly less granular than that of M. alipioi. In addition, all these species have allopatric distri‑ butions in relation to M. alipioi and they all breed in temporary ponds with moving or stationary water. Description of holotype – Body stout; head slightly wider than long (HW/HL = 1.08), approximately one third of SVL; snout short, truncate in dorsal view, rounded in lateral profile, slightly protruding; nos‑ trils directed laterally, oval, located at anterior tip of snout; eye large; pupil horizontally elliptical; eye di‑ ameter smaller than interorbital distance and larger than eye-nostril distance; tympanic membrane ab‑ sent; parotoid gland absent; maxillae and premaxil‑ lae edentate; tongue narrow and elongate, posterior margin entire, posteriorly free for about two thirds of its length; vocal sac median, subgular; skin of dorsum rugose, scattered with medium to large, blunt, round‑ ed glandular warts; warts without keratinized spines; these glandular warts extend over the ventral surface of body particularly in abdominal and gular areas; dorsal surface of limbs, hands, and feet scattered with the same warts but these are slightly more conical and smaller; lengths of fingers: I
