Both generalized mixed Yule coalescent and automatic barcode gap discovery species delimitation methods recovered four major mitochondrial evolutionary lineages within the L. We gathered 728 mitochondrial sequences from 429 localities, encompassing the entire geographic distribution of the group. latrans group, focusing on the resolution of the L. Based on a large-scale geographic sampling including multilocus DNA analyses, and acoustic and morphological data, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of the taxonomic status and species limits of the L. This is further worsened by the presence of chromatic polymorphism among coexisting species that can hardly be distinguished by external morphology. Their homogeneous external morphology and continental geographic distribution in South America have posed severe limitations to a comprehensive review, such that taxonomic consensus and species limits remain uncertain. latrans complex, and the species pair Leptodactylus chaquensis– Leptodactylus macrosternum. The Leptodactylus latrans species group currently comprises eight medium- to large-sized frog species with a convoluted taxonomic history, particularly related to the specific limits of the L. We discuss possible scenarios of diversification for the four genera of Paratelmatobiinae, and outline the implications of our findings for taxonomy and conservation. Our estimation of divergence times indicates that diversification in the subfamily began in the Eocene and continued until the Pleistocene. We also recovered other deeply divergent and geographically structured lineages within the four genera of Paratelmatobiinae. Five putatively new species included in our analyses were unambiguously supported in the phylogenetic trees and delimitation analyses. We recovered Paratelmatobiinae and each of its four genera as monophyletic and robustly supported. We then delimitated independently evolving lineages within the group. We performed Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses using three mitochondrial and five nuclear markers, and a matrix comprising a broad taxonomic sampling. Here, we provide a multilocus phylogeny for Paratelmatobiinae, a leptodactylid subfamily composed of small-ranged species distributed in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and in the campo rupestre ecosystem. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest harbors high levels of anuran diversity and endemism, including several taxa restricted to small geographic ranges. The absence of some morphological structures normally involved in sound reception (elements of the middle ear) in Crossodactylodes frogs indicates that extratympanic pathways might be the main auditory route in these highly specialised leptodactylids. We also discuss the evolutionary and functional implications of the low-intensity calls produced at the water–air interface inside bromeliads. We discuss the major call patterns and the repertoire of Crossodactylodes. Vocalisations are formed of up to three call types, reported herein as creaking, chirp and squeak calls. Here, we provide the first quantitative description of vocalisations of Crossodactylodes frogs and describe the vocal repertoires of three species. This genus has been historically regarded as voiceless, but recent studies reported briefly on vocal sounds in two species. Crossodactylodes is a genus of bromeligenous frogs that is understudied in many aspects. Some frog groups, however, have complex signals and others can produce distinctive acoustic structures, such as purely ultrasonic calls. Vocal sounds occur in most anurans and are often emitted as simple and stereotyped acoustic signals.
mystaceus, is likely paraphyletic with respect to the nominal species (Amazonian lineage), but additional data are still needed to address the taxonomic status of the DD lineage. Populations assigned to the lineage widely distributed across the South American Dry Diagonal (DD), reported in this study as L. Our results revealed three new species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado, which are named and described herein, based mainly on acoustic and molecular data. Morphological and color patterns originally used to the allocation of species to the L. mystaceus complex on the basis of morphology, coloration, acoustics, and DNA sequences.
In this paper, we reexamine the monophyly, species diversity, and relationships in the L. Species of the complex are morphologically similar or indistinguishable among each other, but acoustic data have been the cornerstone for species discrimination across their geographic ranges. Members of the Leptodactylus mystaceus species complex are widely distributed in forests and open formations of South America east of the Andes.