The Neotropical genus Pseudopaludicola includes 21 species, which occur throughout South America. Recent studies suggested that the population of Andaraí, in the state of Bahia, is an undescribed species, related to P. pocoto. Herein we formally describe this new species from lowlands of eastern Brazil. Recognition of this new species is supported by adult morphology, advertisement call, karyotype, and molecular data. It is diagnosed mainly by its small size, terminal phalanges knobbed (lack any expansion of the digital tips), proportionally short hindlimbs, 11 pairs of chromosomes, and advertisement call composed of series of three-pulsed notes, emitted at a high rate. In addition, we report for the first time the presence of P. pocoto in the campo rupestre (rupestrian grasslands) of Chapada Diamantina, a population with a much darker dorsal coloration than the population from the type locality. We also redescribed the advertisement call of P. falcipes based on recordings from topotypic males.

The Neotropical frog genus Pithecopus comprises currently 10 species. A recent molecular phylogeny suggested the existence of two subclades within it, one of them including P. palliatus, P. azureus, P. hypochondrialis, and P. nordestinus (lowland species). Herein we describe a new species of this subclade from Pontal do Araguaia, in the Brazilian Cerrado in the Mato Grosso state. Recognition of the new species is supported by adult morphology, advertisement call and molecular data. The new species differs from Pithecopus highland species by its smaller head width and lack of the reticulate pattern on flanks. From lowland species, the new form differs by being significantly smaller in snout vent-length, advertisement call with the greatest number of pulses, and high genetic distance. Interestingly, we also report on occurrence of P. hypochondrialis (its sister species) at an adjacent site (about 3km). Also, we report on the occurrence of the new species in the Chapada dos Guimarães and Santa Terezinha, both also in the Mato Grosso state.

The genus of Neotropical frogs Pseudopaludicola Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926 includes 23 species, which occur throughout South America. Herein we describe a new species of Pseudopaludicola from the central region of the state of Minas Gerais (southeastern Brazil). This new species is distinguished by the adult morphology, the advertisement call, and molecular data. It is diagnosed mainly by its small size, terminal phalanges knobbed (lack of any expansion of the digital tips), proportionally short hind limbs, and its advertisement call composed of series of two-pulsed notes, emitted at a high repetition rate. In addition, we report the occurrence of the new species in the southern foothills of the Serra do Cipó National Park, at elevations lower than 800 m above sea level (a.s.l). The sister species of this new taxon is P. mineira Lobo, 1994, which occurs in rupestrian grasslands above 1200 m a.s.l. at the Serra do Cipó National Park and in Serra do Cabral, both in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. We also redescribe the advertisement call of P. mineira based on recordings from topotypical males and compare it to calls of related species.

The Neotropical frog genus Pseudopaludicola includes 25 species distributed throughout South America. Herein we review the taxonomic status of P. parnaiba relative to P. canga and the specific identity of the population treated in previous studies as Pseudopaludicola sp. 3 from Barreirinhas in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The lack of differentiation in advertisement call, morphology, and mitochondrial markers from topotypes and different populations rejects the status of P. parnaiba and Pseudopaludicola sp. 3 from Barreirinhas as distinct species. For these reasons, we suggest to formally consider P. parnaiba as a junior synonym of P. canga. We also found that a population previously reported as P. facureae from central Brazil (Palmeiras de Goiás, Goiás) corresponds to a cryptic species that we describe here as a new species. Lastly, we provide for the first time the phylogenetic positions of P. giarettai, P. llanera and P. pusilla.

The categories of calls previously described for the closely related species Pithecopus azureus and P. hypochondrialis are reassessed. In addition, the advertisement and aggressive calls of P. azureus from Brazil-Paraguay border in southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul in western Brazil are redescribed. Intraspecific comparisons of call traits are made for populations of P. azureus from Argentina and Bolivia, and the vocalization of P. azureus is also compared with that of the closely related species of the P. hypochondrialis Group (subclade of lowland species). Given the similarities among the advertisement calls of P. azureus, P. hypochondrialis, and P. nordestinus, it seems that acoustic traits, at least solely, should not be employed as reliable diagnostic characters among these species

The dwarf swamp frogs, genus Pseudopaludicola, include 21 species, which occur throughout South America (Frost 2016). Pseudopaludicola is recognized as monophyletic, supported by a set of osteological, morphological, and molecular characters (Veiga-Menoncello et al. 2014, and cites therein). Veiga-Menoncello et al. (2014) recognized a clade (“clade II” there), which included two species that share karyotypes with 2n = 20: P. ameghini (Cope, 1887) and P. ternetzi Miranda-Ribeiro, 1937. However, historically these two sister species have undergone many taxonomic changes and so far they do not have a clear taxonomic diagnosis one from the other (Haddad & Cardoso 1987; Lobo 1996; Fávero et al. 2011; Pansonato et al. 2013; Cardozo & Toledo 2013, and cites therein).

We describe for the first time the vocalization of Scinax haddadorum from its type locality. We also aim to establish an acoustic diagnosis for this species in comparison with the morphologically similar Scinax rupestris, for which we also describe additional note types of its vocalization that were not previously reported. The advertisement call of S. haddadorum consists of a single type of relatively short (<200 ms on average), multipulsed note and the call dominant frequency is restricted mostly to low frequency values (ca. 1.5 kHz), whereas the advertisement call of S. rupestris consists of a single type of relatively long (>450 ms on average), multipulsed note, and the call dominant frequency may be contained within two distinct frequency bands. Advertisement calls across Scinax species exhibit distinctive patterns both in time and frequency structures that should be described in more detail in future studies, since we believe that they might be of help in the recognition and delimitation of species in this group of Neotropical treefrogs.

The genus of Neotropical frogs Pithecopus includes 11 species occurring east of the Andes from southern Venezuela to northern Argentina. Recent genetic approaches pointed out an unusual genetic diversity among populations from localities in north-eastern Brazil recognized as P. nordestinus. In fact, one of these studies confirmed the hypothesis that the São Francisco River acted as an effective geographical barrier during vicariant events in the evolutionary history of P. nordestinus, resulting in two principal, highly divergent clades. Herein we formally describe this divergent clade as a new cryptic species of Pithecopus from north-eastern Brazil, the sister clade of P. nordestinus. It differs from other species of Pithecopus, except for P. azureus and P. nordestinus, by its small body size, lack of the reticulate pattern on flanks, smaller head width, and advertisement calls generally composed of a three-pulsed core.