A new species of Crossodactylodes (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from Minas Gerais, Brazil: first record of genus within the Espinhaço Mountain Range

Abstract

The genus Crossodactylodes comprises three species of Atlantic Rainforest endemic frogs strictly dependent on bromeliads where they spend their entire life cycle. The current geographic distribution of the genus covers highland areas of Atlantic Rainforest in the States of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil. We describe a new species of the genus from Parque Estadual do Pico do Itambé, at Santo Antônio do Itambé municipality, State of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. Crossodactylodes itambe sp. nov. is characterized by the following combination of traits: male SVL 16.2 ± 1.3 (14.0-17.6 mm, n = 10), female SVL 16.2 ± 1.0 (13.5-18.0 mm, n = 15); snout short, rounded in dorsal view, sloping in lateral view; absence of vocal sac and vocal slits in males; absence of vomerine teeth; males with upper arms and forearms hypertrophied; cloacal flap prominent, simple; dorsal skin coarsely granular. The new species inhabits rupicolous bromeliads in open areas of rocky fields, and is recorded in altitudes between 1836 and 2062 m above sea level. This record extends the genus distribution for about 325 km northwest from where it was known. Crossodactylodes sp. nov. is the only species of the genus that occurs in open field habitats (campos rupestres), in very high altitudes of a non-costal mountain range (the Espinhaço Range).

Influence of vegetation physiognomy, elevation and fire frequency on medium and large mammals in two protected areas of the Espinhaço Range

“…This is true for the great majority of PAs in the Espinhaço Range, which are located at higher elevations and on steeper slopes. Nevertheless, in this specific case, the bias is biologically reasonable due to the large number of endemic species in rupestrian habitats, a habitat associated with higher elevations in this mountain range (e.g., Azevedo and Silveira 2005, Oliveira and Sano 2009, Freitas et al 2012, Barata et al 2013, Pardiñas et al 2014. Our data, however, showed that this habitat does not seem to be relevant for the large mammal community in the Espinhaço.…”

“…It extends over parts of three major ecosystems: Caatinga, Cerrado and Atlantic Rainforest, the last two being recognized as global biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000, Mittermeier et al 2005. This mountain range is one of the most important centers for species endemism in South America, with several new species of different taxonomic groups described recently (Azevedo and Silveira 2005, Oliveira and Sano 2009, Freitas et al 2012, Barata et al 2013, Pardiñas et al 2014) and its biological relevance has been highlighted in prioritization studies for biodiversity conservation (e.g., Drumond et al 2005, MMA 2007.…”

The power of monitoring: optimizing survey designs to detect occupancy changes in a rare amphibian population

“…Crossodactylodes itambe is restricted to 1800 m a.s.l. and occupies a single species of bromeliad ( Vriesea medusa ), where it spend its entire life cycle 35 . Individuals have never been observed outside bromeliads and are mostly inactive inside the plant (Barata I. M., manuscript in preparation ).…”

“…In this study we used patchily distributed bromeliads that are inhabited by a rare and threatened amphibian species, as a model system to assess sampling design and the statistical power associated with detecting population changes. The endemic frog Crossodactylodes itambe 35 , 36 is only found at the Itambe summit, southeastern Brazil, living exclusively inside bromeliads on a high elevation rocky outcrop and with an extent of occurrence of less than ca. 0.5 km 2 .…”

Advertisement call and morphological variation of the poorly known and endemic Bokermannohyla juiju Faivovich, Lugli, Lourenço and Haddad, 2009 (Anura: Hylidae) from Central Bahia, Brazil

“…The Espinhaço Range is characterized by high endemic anuran species richness (Leite et al 2008, where narrowly distributed anuran species restricted to a single mountain range are usual (e.g. Leite et al 2011;Leite et al 2012;Barata et al 2013). Bokermannohyla juiju is known from Serra do Sincorá (Municipalities of Palmeiras and Mucugê), Chapada Diamantina, Espinhaço Range, State of Bahia, northeastern Brazil.…”