Many studies propose that Quaternary climatic cycles contracted and/or expanded the ranges of species and biomes. Strong expansion-contraction dynamics of biomes presume concerted demographic changes of associated fauna. The analysis of temporal concordance of demographic changes can be used to test the influence of Quaternary climate on diversification processes. Hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation (hABC) is a powerful and flexible approach that models genetic data from multiple species, and can be used to estimate the temporal concordance of demographic processes. Using available single-locus data, we can now perform large-scale analyses, both in terms of number of species and geographic scope. Here, we first compared the power of four alternative hABC models for a collection of single-locus data. We found that the model incorporating an a priori hypothesis about the timing of simultaneous demographic change had the best performance. Second, we applied the hABC models to a data set of seven squamate and four amphibian species occurring in the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (Caatinga) in northeastern Brazil, which, according to paleoclimatic evidence, experienced an increase in aridity during the Pleistocene. If this increase was important for the diversification of associated xeric-adapted species, simultaneous population expansions should be evident at the community level. We found a strong signal of synchronous population expansion in the Late Pleistocene, supporting the increase of the Caatinga during this time. This expansion likely enhanced the formation of communities adapted to high aridity and seasonality and caused regional extirpation of taxa adapted to wet forest.

Information about the snake diversity and their natural history from the Atlantic forest domain in Brazil refer mostly to inland forests than to coastal region. Within the state of Bahia, this knowledge is concentrated to the southeastern coastal stretch. Herein we report on the diversity of snakes from the restinga, ombrophilous forest and anthropogenic environment from the northern Atlantic coast of Bahia. We sampled nine sites for three years and visited four museum collections. Furthermore, we provide anecdotal natural history information, voucher analyses, literature complements, and a key to fascilitate species identification. We report a total of 774 snakes belonging to 50 species and 23 new distribution records for northeastern coast of Bahia, supplemented by new data on feeding and reproduction. The number of detected species is similar to numbers obtained in comparable studies from other Brazilian ecoregions. This study reports and focuses for the first time on all known species of snakes from the northeastern coast of Bahia.

Abstract:Restinga is a coastal ecosystem covering almost the entire Brazilian coast line and it is associated with the Atlantic Forest biome and therefore is a complementary component of the landscape. Its vegetation is highly variable and specialized, being influenced by salt, and with low fertility and moist soil. This environmental landscape promotes the colonization of species from contiguous biomes and ecosystems, thereby promoting high diversity, especially on the northern coast of Bahia. The study was conducted at the Reserva Imbassaí, in the municipality of Mata de São João, northern coast of Bahia, Brazil. We conducted six surveys distributed over one year, with samples every two months; we used the sampling techniques of active visual search, random encounters and pitfall traps along a linear transect. Fourty-nine snakes from 15 species distributed among five families were recorded: Boidae (2), Colubridae (3), Dipsadidae (6), Elapidae (1) and Viperidae (3). Ten of the species of snakes found at Reserva Imbassaí complement the literature overall snakes' list from the north coast of Bahia's restinga. The results show that Reserva Imbassaí is uniquely rich in snakes and therefore represents an important contribution to the knowledge of this taxon within the Atlantic forest hotspot.Keywords: Atlantic forest, boids, colubrids, dipsadids, elapids, northeastern Brazil, squamata, viperids. 2184Portuguese Abstract: A restinga é um ecossistema costeiro, cobrindo grande parte da costa brasileira e é associado ao bioma da Mata Atlântica, agindo como componente complementar da paisagem. Sua vegetação é bastante variada e especializada, influenciada pela salinidade marinha e pela baixa fertilidade e umidade do solo. Estes componentes da paisagem contribuem para a colonização de espécies de outros biomas e ecossistemas próximos, tornando-o assim bastante diverso, principalmente no litoral norte da Bahia. Este estudo foi realizado na Reserva Imbassaí, localizado no município de Mata de São João, litoral norte da Bahia, Brasil. Realizamos seis coletas durante um ano a cada dois meses; utilizamos a procura visual ativa, armadilhas de interceptação e queda e encontros ocasionais em um transecto linear. Foram registradas 49 serpentes de 15 espécies das cinco famílias: Boidae (2), Colubridae (3), Dipsadidae (6), Elapidae (1) e Viperidae (3). Dez destas espécies de serpentes encontradas na Reserva Imbassaí complementam a lista de espécies deste grupo para a restinga do litoral norte da Bahia. Os resultados evidenciam que a Reserva Imbassaí possui uma riqueza única de serpentes e representa uma importante contribuição para o conhecimento deste táxon no hotspot da Mata Atlântica.

Background Currently, 58 species are assigned to the genus Allobates, with 70% of its diversity described just in the last two decades, with many additional species likely unnamed. The continuous description of these new species represents a fundamental step for resolving the taxonomy and ensuring the future conservation of the genus. Methods Using molecular, acoustic, and morphological evidences, we describe a new species of Allobates from Teles Pires River region, southern Amazonia, and provide accounts on the population of A. tapajos found sympatrically with the new species. Results The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the coloration of thighs, venter, dorsum, and dark lateral stripe. It has four types of calls, with advertisement calls formed by relatively long trills with a mean duration of 2.29 s ± 0.65, mean of 39.93 notes ± 11.18 emitted at a mean rate of 17.49 ± 0.68 notes per second, and mean dominant frequency of 5,717 Hz ± 220.81. The genetic distance between the new species and its congeners in a fragment of the 16S mitochondrial fragment ranged between 13.2% (A. carajas) to 21.3% (A. niputidea). The sympatric Allobates population fits its morphology and acoustic with the nominal A. tapajos, but presents a relatively high genetic distance of nearly 6.5%, raising questions on the current taxonomy of this species.

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The Neotropics are one of the richest regions in biodiversity globally. Still, much remains unknown about the mechanisms and processes responsible for the accumulation of species in this region. Among the many limitations on our current knowledge on the region's biodiversity, understanding of community composition and species distributions is limited and greatly biased in many Brazilian regions. We present information on species composition, habitat use, geographic distribution, taxonomic accounts, and conservation of snakes from Rio Grande do Norte state, Northeastern Brazil. We compiled, from primary and literature data, 851 snake records from seven families and 47 species, with fi ve new records for the state. Species are mainly terrestrial and semi-arboreal and associated with at least six vegetation types from Caatinga and Atlantic Forest domains. None of the species is listed in threatened categories of IUCN, while two species are listed in the Brazilian Threatened Fauna list. Our data covers 32.34% of the state's area, a consequence of locally limited inventories and lack of longterm studies on snakes' fauna. The richest areas within the state are near large cities, which lack protected areas for the species they harbor, and highlights the necessity of protective policies and conservation actions.

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Diet composition constitutes basic information on the natural history of the species. Despite the amount of data acquired in the last years, much remains to be known specially for geographically widespread species. Here we compiled the available dietary items of Leptodactylus vastus and report the first predation event upon Rupirana cardosoi by a juvenile L. vastus. The fact these species are syntopic in the region probably resulted in this novel predation event. Different from previous L. vastus predation observations, the specimens we observed do not present a striking difference in body size, but L. vastus was able to almost swallow L. cardosoi, coherent with findings that mouth size is related to prey selection in anurans. Also, our literature review showed that L. vastus is a generalist and opportunistic predator, that prey upon small vertebrates (Amphibia, Squamata, and Mammalia).