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Aim Present Amazonian diversity patterns can result from many different mechanisms and, consequently, the factors contributing to divergence across regions and/or taxa may differ. Nevertheless, the river‐barrier hypothesis is still widely invoked as a causal process in divergence of Amazonian species. Here we use model‐based phylogeographic analyses to test the extent to which major Amazonian rivers act similarly as barriers across time and space in two broadly distributed Amazonian taxa. Local Amazon rain forest. Taxon The lizard Gonatodes humeralis (Sphaerodactylidae) and the tree frog Dendropsophus leucophyllatus (Hylidae). Methods We obtained RADseq data for samples distributed across main river barriers, representing main Areas of Endemism previously proposed for the region. We conduct model‐based phylogeographic and genetic differentiation analyses across each population pair. Results Measures of genetic differentiation (based on FST calculated from genomic data) show that all rivers are associated with significant genetic differentiation. Parameters estimated under investigated divergence models showed that divergence times for populations separated by each of the 11 bordering rivers were all fairly recent. The degree of differentiation consistently varied between taxa and among rivers, which is not an artifact of any corresponding difference in the genetic diversities of the respective taxa, or to amounts of migration based on analyses of the site‐frequency spectrum. Main conclusions Taken together, our results support a dispersal (rather than vicariance) history, without strong evidence of congruence between these species and rivers. However, once a species crossed a river, populations separated by each and every river have remained isolated—in this sense, rivers act similarly as barriers to any further gene flow. This result suggests differing degrees of persistence and gives rise to the seeming contradiction that the divergence process indeed varies across time, space and species, even though major Amazonian rivers have acted as secondary barriers to gene flow in the focal taxa.

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We describe a new species of the Bokermannohyla circumdata group from the Estação de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Ambiental Galheiro (EPDA-Galheiro) (19 o 12′S; 47 o 08′W), Municipality of Perdizes, State of Minas Gerais, a mid-altitudinal (~ 850 m above sea level) riparian forest environment in the Cerrado of southeastern Brazil. Bokermannohyla napolii sp. nov. is allied to the large-sized species of the group, diagnosed on the basis of adult morphology/morphometrics, and mainly vocalizations. Adult specimens of the new species are most closely related to those of B. luctuosa and B. circumdata, but can be differentiated from the former by having distal subarticular tubercle of finger III bifid/divided in males, and finger IV bifid/divided in males and females; and from both B. luctuosa and B. circumdata by a distinctive advertisement call structure. We also provide bioacoustic data on seven other species of the genus, including previously unknown advertisement calls of B. circumdata and B. carvalhoi, and re-description of the advertisement calls of B. luctuosa, B. ibitiguara, B. nanuzae, B. sazimai, and B. hylax.

This study presents the species richness, temporal distribution and reproductive activity of anurans from the uaimií State Forest (Floresta Estadual do uaimií -FLOE uaimií), situated in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region, municipality of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Field activities were performed monthly from September 2009 to August 2010. We recorded 36 anurans species, distributed in 10 families. The greatest richness of the sampled sites corresponds to a permanent rivulet in a secondary forest. The majority of anuran species presented seasonal vocalization activity pattern, mainly in the rainy season. The anuran species composition of FLOE uaimií is similar to others studied areas from the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region.

The Brazilian mountain ranges from the Guiana Shield highlands are largely unexplored, with an understudied herpetofauna. Here the amphibian and reptile species diversity of the remote Serra da Mocidade mountain range, located in extreme northern Brazil, is reported upon, and biogeographical affinities and taxonomic highlights are discussed. A 22-days expedition to this mountain range was undertaken during which specimens were sampled at four distinct altitudinal levels (600, 960, 1,060 and 1,365 m above sea level) using six complementary methods. Specimens were identified through an integrated approach that considered morphological, bioacoustical, and molecular analyses. Fifty-one species (23 amphibians and 28 reptiles) were found, a comparable richness to other mountain ranges in the region. The recorded assemblage showed a mixed compositional influence from assemblages typical of other mountain ranges and lowland forest habitats in the region. Most of the taxa occupying the Serra da Mocidade mountain range are typical of the Guiana Shield or widely distributed in the Amazon. Extensions of known distribution ranges and candidate undescribed taxa are also recorded. This is the first herpetofaunal expedition that accessed the higher altitudinal levels of this mountain range, contributing to the basic knowledge of these groups in remote areas.