ABSTRACT. Amphibian diversity of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Amphibian species from Mato Grosso do Sul state were compiled and checked for the fi rst time. A total of 97 species were recorded, representing more than 10% of the known Brazilian amphibians. Twenty fi ve anuran genera in nine families and only one caecilian were recorded. Cerrado was the richest area followed by semideciduous forests, Chaco, and veredas (palm swamps). It was recorded 56 species in fl oodplain areas and 92 in the surrounding cerrados. The Serra da Bodoquena National Park and some Pantanal areas were better sampled than other regions in Mato Grosso do Sul, resulting in sampling gaps across the state. Important areas for future inventories were identifi ed: mountainous regions in Serra de Maracaju and those bordering the Apa river, Brazilian chacoan areas, the Taquari river alluvial fan, the broad Taquari-Itiquira fl at area, the Central Plateau scarps, wet areas from Parana river bordering São Paulo state, and inland areas from Pantanal.KEYWORDS. Amphibia, inventories, biodiversity, Biota-MS Program.RESUMO. A fauna de anfíbios do estado de Mato Grosso do Sul foi compilada e elaborada pela primeira vez, totalizando 97 espécies, o que representa pouco mais de 10% das espécies que ocorrem no Brasil. Nove famílias e 25 gêneros de Anura e apenas uma espécie de Gymnophiona foram registradas. As áreas de Cerrado apresentaram a maior riqueza, seguidas pelas fl orestas estacionais semideciduais, Chaco e veredas. Em relação às macrorregiões consideradas, foram registradas 56 espécies para a planície de inundação (majoritariamente representada pelo Pantanal) e 92 para o planalto. As regiões mais amostradas em Mato Grosso do Sul são o Parque Nacional da Serra da Bodoquena e algumas áreas do Pantanal, o que resulta em lacunas de amostragens por todo o estado, principalmente nas regiões norte, leste/sudeste e parte do oeste/sudoeste. Foram identifi cadas áreas consideradas importantes para amostragens em decorrência da complexidade de fi tofi sionomias e relevos encontrados no estado: Maciço do rio Apa, Serra de Maracaju, grande parte do Chaco brasileiro, leque do rio Taquari, planalto do Taquari-Itiquira, escarpas do planalto Central, áreas úmidas/fl orestas estacionais da planície do rio Paraná e áreas interioranas do Pantanal, onde o acesso é difícil.

Amphibians are usually generalist predators, and their diet is influenced by extrinsic (e.g. food availability) and intrinsic factors (e.g. body size and skull shape). This study aims to describe the diet of adult males and females of Leptodactylus fuscus in the Pantanal of the Miranda river and to answer the following questions: i) Are prey's maximum size and number of food items explained by the anuran's body size? ii) Are richness of morphospecies and number of food items explained by frog sex? iii) Is there diet overlap between male and female? We recorded 62 food items, belonging to seven orders of Arthropoda, and one individual of Annelida. The diet of L. fuscus was dominated by Orthoptera, followed by Coleoptera, Araneae, Hymenoptera, Blattaria, Hemiptera and Diptera. Frog's body size did not influence prey size or number of food items consumed. The number of prey and richness of morphospecies did not differ between males and females. There was low diet overlap between the sexes. Our results provide evidence for the opportunistic and generalist feeding behavior of L. fuscus. Resumo: Anfíbios são, em geral, predadores generalistas cuja dieta é influenciada por fatores extrínsecos (e.g. disponibilidade de alimento) e intrínsecos (e.g. tamanho do corpo e formato do crânio). Este estudo tem como objetivo descrever a dieta de machos e fêmeas adultos de Leptodactylus fuscus no Pantanal do rio Miranda e responder as seguintes perguntas: i) O tamanho máximo da presa e o número de itens alimentares são explicados pelo tamanho corpóreo do anuro? ii) A riqueza de morfoespécies e número de itens alimentares são explicados pelo sexo do anuro? iii) Existe sobreposição de dieta entre macho e fêmea? Registramos 62 itens alimentares distribuídos por sete ordens de Arthropoda e um indivíduo de Annelida. A dieta de L. fuscus possui dominância de Orthoptera, seguida por Coleoptera, Araneae, Hymenoptera, Blattaria, Hemiptera e Diptera. O tamanho corpóreo do anuro não influenciou o tamanho da presa ou o número de itens alimentares consumidos. O número de presas e riqueza de morfotipos não diferiu entre machos e fêmeas. Houve baixa sobreposição alimentar entre os sexos. Os resultados mostram evidências de comportamento alimentar oportunístico e generalista para L. fuscus. Palavras-chave: planície pantaneira, itens alimentares, ecologia trófica.

-The Upper Paraguay River Basin is located in the center of South America and harbors one of the largest wetland in the world, known as Pantanal. This floodplain is surrounded by uplands, which presently have most of their area converted into pastures or monocultures, besides being poorly known scientifically. Also, most of these upland areas are considered conservation priorities. Here we present a list of anuran species from a savanna-like area (municipality of Camapuã, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil) inserted in the uplands surrounding the Pantanal floodplain, in the Upper Taquari River sub-basin, and evaluate the effectiveness of the sampling effort. Data were obtained through active searches in 22 plots in aquatic habitats, during the rainy season (from December 2009 to April 2010). We found 26 species, in four families. Although sampling effort was found to sufficiently represent the local anuran assemblage, future inventories in this region should ideally include samplings during the dry and early rainy seasons, and include both active and passive capturing methods. Resumo -A bacia do Alto Paraguai, localizada no centro da América do Sul, abriga uma das maiores áreas inundáveis do mundo, conhecida como Pantanal. Essa planície alagável é rodeada por planaltos, os quais possuem grande parte de sua área convertida em pastagens ou monoculturas, além de serem pouco conhecidos cientificamente. Além disso, a maioria das áreas de planalto são consideradas prioritárias para a conservação. Apresentamos uma lista de espécies de anuros de uma área semelhante a savanas (município de Camapuã, estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil) inserida nos planaltos de entorno do Pantanal, na sub-bacia do Alto Taquari, e avaliamos a efetividade do esforço amostral. Os dados foram obtidos através de busca ativa em 22 parcelas em ambientes aquáticos, durante a estação chuvosa (de Dezembro de 2009 a Abril de 2010). Encontramos 26 espécies, em quatro famílias. Apesar de considerarmos o esforço amostral suficiente para representar da comunidade de anuros local, sugerimos que futuros inventários nessa região contemplem a estação seca e início da chuvosa, bem como o uso adicional de métodos passivos de captura. Palavras-chave: Amphibia, veredas, sub-bacia do Alto Taquari, inventários biológicos, degradação ambiental.

Abstract:Lepidobatrachus asper is a large to medium frog known from the Chaco lowlands of Paraguay and Argentina. We provide the first species record for the Brazilian Chaco, which extends the species geographical distribution ca. 73 km northeast from Puerto Casado, Alto Paraguay Departament, Paraguay. We also provide a distribution map and information about the species habitat conditions and diet. The Brazilian Chaco is still poorly surveyed, and the rapid environmental degradation can lead to local extinctions of certain species.

Biogeographic tools support spatial distribution pattern hypotheses and help to determine priority areas for conservation. Our aim was to verify biogeographic patterns for anurans in three mountain complexes in southeastern Brazil, as well as to discuss the status of species conservation recorded and the biogeographical units evaluated. We selected 16 areas distributed in the Serra da Mantiqueira complex, south of Serra do Espinhaço and Serra da Canastra. We used the occurrence (geographic coordinates) of each species in the localities to determine areas of endemism applying the Endemicity Analysis method. We also tested whether similarity between areas was explained by geographic distance (Multiple Regression on distance Matrices-MRM). The Serra do Itatiaia, Serra da Canastra, Plateau of Poços de Caldas and Serra do Cipó were the areas that presented the highest number of species restricted to them. Through the Endemicity Analysis, we identified four areas of endemism with higher scores. The MRM revealed that the geographic distance explained 41% of species dissimilarity between areas. Most of the endemic species from these areas have inaccurate conservation statuses (data deficient or unevaluated). These results highlight the need for greater research efforts towards understanding species restricted by distribution, as well as the priority in conserving these endemic areas.

The relationship between environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity represents a cornerstone of ecological research. While environmental descriptors over large extents usually have medium‐to‐low spatial resolution, in situ measures provide accurate information for limited areas, and a gap remains in providing remote descriptors that represent local environmental structure. Texture from satellite images can represent fine‐scale heterogeneity over wide spatial coverage, but to date, it has mostly been used to predict general aspects of species diversity, such as richness. Here, we assess the utility of image textures from high‐resolution satellite images (RapidEye 3A) and in situ variables to predict differences in the composition of anuran communities in a tropical savanna (Cerrado) of Brazil. While in situ measures accounted for compositional differences in the whole community, two measures of image textures were associated only with the variation of species within the Hylidae family (adj. R² = 0.16 and 0.14). Comparatively, image textures predicted ~2/3 of the variation explained by in situ measures (adj. R² = 0.23). When both approaches were combined, a greater compositional variation was achieved (adj. R² = 0.28), with 1/5 of it shared by both in situ and textures, and 1/5 attributed solely to texture. Our findings suggest that image texture can complement the assessment of environmental heterogeneity acting on the assembly of local anuran communities. This approach can be valuable for explicitly including spatial heterogeneity in biological assessments over broad spatial extents, especially for biological groups strongly filtered by environmental conditions. Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.

Rhinella scitula is a small bufonid (snout-vent length 34-46 mm in males and 46-51 mm in females) belonging to R. margaritifera group that is found mainly on the margins of temporary or permanent streams within gallery forest (Caramaschi and Niemeyer 2003). Its reproduction takes place in small streams after rainfalls (explosive pattern), where males call mainly during twilight (Caramaschi and Niemeyer 2003). The geographical distribution of the species within Brazil is known to range from southwestern to central state of Mato Grosso do Sul (Caramaschi and Niemeyer 2003; Maragno and Souza 2007). It is also recorded in Paraguay, near the border with Brazil, in the provinces of Amambay and Concepcion (Brusquetti and Lavilla 2006).

In this study, we evaluated the reproductive activity and the temporal and spatial distributions of anuran assemblages in three environments within a semideciduous forest in Southeast Brazil, located at Municipality of Barão de Monte Alto, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The fi eld activities were carried out during three consecutive days, monthly throughout the rainy seasons of 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. We recorded 28 anurans species, distributed in eight families. We observed the spatial-temporal distribution of some species, and their associated reproductive behaviors through exploration of vocalizations at different sites. The spatial and temporal distribution of the species seems to adapt to abiotic and biotic factors of their environment.