New Species of Melanophryniscus (Anura: Bufonidae) from Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil

Nova espécie de Melanophryniscus (Anura, Bufonidae) da região dos Campos Gerais, sul do Brasil

“…Considering that the specimens collected were readily identified as a new species of Melanophryniscus by its small size and color pattern, species comparisons are restricted to information provided in literature (Bokermann 1967, Klappenbach 1968, Cei 1980, Langone 1994, Céspedez and Alvarez 1999, Prigioni and Langone 2000, Cruz and Caramaschi 2003, Baldo and Basso 2004, Di-Bernardo et al 2006, Langone et al 2008.…”

“…The 21 species (Langone et al 2008) in the genus are arranged into three phenetic groups proposed by Caramaschi and Cruz (2002) (Di-Bernardo et al 2006, Langone et al 2008. The group definitions are loose, except for M. tumifrons group, defined by the presence of a frontal swelling on top of snout (Baldo and Basso 2004), and a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis is required to determine the relationships among species in the genus (DiBernardo et al 2006).…”

Anura, Bufonidae, Melanophryniscus simplex: distribution extension

“…The genus Melanophryniscus currently includes 20 species distributed in southern Brazil, southern Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and central and northern Argentina (Di-Bernardo et al 2006). To date, nine species of Melanophryniscus are known to occur in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.…”

“…Following Caramaschi and Cruz (2002), three species, M. atroluteus, M. dorsalis, and M. montevidensis (see Braun and Braun 1980;Tedros et al 2001), are included in the Melanophryniscus stelzneri species group; five, M. macrogranulosus, M. cambaraensis, M. tumifrons M. pachyrhynus, and M. devincenzii (see Braun and Braun, 1973;1979;1980;Caramaschi and Cruz 2002;Zanella et al 2007), are in the Melanophryniscus tumifrons group; and M. admirabilis is unassigned to any group (Di-Bernardo et al 2006). …”

Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae, Melanophryniscus dorsalis: distribution extension in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…The genus Melanophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 has currently 20 recognized species (Frost 2006;Di Bernardo et al 2006) and its distribution is restricted to South America (17º and 38º S) in the central and northern region of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Bolivia, and southern Brazil (from Rio Grande do Sul to Minas Gerais) between 0 and 2,400 m of altitude (IUCN 2006). …”