A New Species of the Scinax granulatus Group (Hylinae: Scinaxini) from Northeastern Brazil
We describe a new species in the Scinax granulatus group from the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil and include the new species in an updated phylogenetic hypothesis for the group. The new species differs from all other species in the S. granulatus group by a combination of characters, such as a weakly bilobate vocal sac, moderately developed pre- and postaxial webbing of Toe IV, and advertisement call features. The newly described taxon is more similar with S. tropicalia, a species that is not closely related; both can be distinguished by the red-colored iris in the new species and differences in pulse rate of the call. The new species was recovered as the sister taxon of a clade including all other species of the S. granulatus group. However, the low support of some internal clades suggests that the knowledge about relationships in this group is still incomplete.
Holotype of Scinax ritaleeae, new species (CFBH 47526, SVL 33.8 mm), in preservative. (A) Dorsal view, (B) ventral view, (C) right hand in ventral view, (D) right foot in ventral view, and (E) head in lateral view. Scale bars = 5 mm.
Holotype of Scinax ritaleeae, new species (CFBH 47526, SVL 33.8 mm), in life. (A) Anterolateral view, (B) belly, thighs, and legs in ventral view; flank and groin in ventrolateral view, (C) left thigh in posterior view.
Dorsal and ventral patterns of the paratypes of Scinax ritaleeae, new species, in preservative. (A) CFBH 47521, SVL 35 mm; (B) CFBH 47522, SVL 34.4 mm; (C) CFBH 47523, SVL 34.5 mm; (D) CFBH 47524, SVL 34.2 mm; (E) CFBH 47525, SVL 34.7 mm; (F) CFBH 47527, SVL 32.4 mm; (G) CFBH 47528, SVL 33.4 mm.
Interhyoideus muscle (delimited anteriorly by white dashed line) in ventral view. (A) Uniform m. interhyoideus in Scinax caldarum (CFBH 28861); (B) weakly bilobate m. interhyoideus in S. ritaleeae, new species (CFBH 47525), as noted by the presence of a shallow medial constriction in its posterior margin; the area delimited by the black square is magnified in the right inset, black arrows indicate the shallow medial constriction of m. interhyoideus. Scale bar = 5 mm.
Color in life of Scinax ritaleeae, new species, and some species of the S. granulatus group. (A) S. ritaleeae, CFBH 47521, and (B) CFBH 47522, showing details of iris coloration; (C) S. tropicalia, CFBH 47483; (D) S. perereca, CFBH 41742; (E) Scinax sp. 29, CFBH 30870; and (F) S. hayii, unvouchered specimen, showing details of iris coloration (photo F: copyright Miguel Vences).
Oscillogram depicting about 200 ms of the advertisement call of Scinax ritaleeae, new species (CFBH-voc 26; above), and S. tropicalia (FonoZoo 12706; below).
Nuptial pad of the left hand of Scinax ritaleeae, new species (holotype, CFBH 47526), in dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views. Image (A) is digitally reversed. Scale bars = 1 mm.
The advertisement call of Scinax ritaleeae, new species (CFBH-voc 24). (A) A section of about 3.5 s depicting a series of six calls. (B) Oscillogram (above), spectrogram (center), and power spectrum (below) of the call highlighted by the red rectangle in (A). The intensity of frequency components is indicated by the color scale (dark red = maximum intensity). The vertical green line in the power spectrum indicates the peak frequency of the call.
The aggressive call of Scinax ritaleeae, new species (CFBH-voc 26). (A) Section of about 0.44 s depicting an advertisement call followed by an aggressive call. (B) Oscillogram (above) and spectrogram (below) of the aggressive call highlighted by the red rectangle in (A). The intensity of frequency components is indicated by the color scale (dark red = maximum intensity).
Phylogenetic relationships of the Scinax granulatus group as recovered in one of the 2,355 most parsimonious trees obtained from the analysis of the molecular dataset with gaps as fifth state under equal weights for all transformations. Values around nodes are parsimony jackknife support. An asterisk (*) indicates groups with 100% for parsimony jackknife frequencies. Nodes lacking values have <50% jackknife support; all are retained in the strict consensus. Number of terminals per species is indicated in parentheses. See Appendix 1 for locality data. See Data Accessibility for tree file.
Known distribution and habitat of Scinax ritaleeae, new species. (A) Political limits of Brazil outlined in black with the state of Bahia highlighted in white. (B) Location of the RPPN Estação Veracel (red star) within the state of Bahia. (C) Type locality of S. ritaleeae (yellow star) within the area of RPPN Estação Veracel (outlined in blue). (D) Bromeliads used as calling site by males of the new species in the type locality.
Contributor Notes
Associate Editor: W. L. Smith.