Check List 8(3): 499-500, 2012
© 2012 Check List and Authors
ISSN 1809-127X (available at www.checklist.org.br)

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The genus Dendropsophus Fitzinger, 1843 is composed
of 91 species (Frost 2011) arranged in nine groups
(Faivovich et al. 2005). The Dendropsophus marmoratus
group is composed of eight species, which range from
northeastern Brazil to eastern Bolivia, and from the Guianas
to southeastern Peru (Frost 2011). This group consists of
Dendropsophus acreanus (Bokermann, 1964), D. dutrai
(Gomes and Peixoto, 1996), D. marmoratus (Laurenti,
1768), D. melanargyreus (Cope 1887), D. nahdereri (Lutz
and Bokermann, 1963), D. novaisi (Bokermann, 1968), D.
seniculus (Cope, 1868), and D. soaresi (Caramaschi and Jim,
1933).

Dendropsophus novaisi (Bokermann 1968) is a small-
bodied species (SVL 31-36 mm in males and 30-36 in
females) found in rocky outcrops in the semi-arid Brazilian
Caatinga biome, where it may reproduce in temporary
pools (Peixoto and Pimenta 2004). Prior to the present
study, was known from only two localities - Maracas, a
municipality in the Brazilian state of Bahia (type locality)
and Pedra Azul in the state of Minas Gerais (Bokermann
1968; Peixoto and Pimenta 2004). As little is known
of its geographic range, population status, ecological
characteristics or even whether it occurs in any protected
areas, Dendropsophus novaisi is listed as Data Deficient by
the IUCN (Peixoto and Pimenta 2004).

During fieldwork conducted between March, 2010,
and February, 2011, nine specimens of D. novaisi (Figure
1) were captured in an artificial pool located within the
Raso da Catarina Ecological Station (E.E. Raso da Catarina)
in Jeremoabo, Bahia, Brazil (09°55’01.0” S, 38°41'55.6”
W; elevation: 444 m). This protected area is covered with
typical open arboreal Caatinga vegetation with palms
(Melo and Andrade 2007). The pool forms an ellipse, with
an area of 885.5 m* and a maximum depth of 1.5 m during
the rainy season. The surrounding vegetation is dominated
by plants of the families Capparaceae, Convolvulaceae,
Cucurbitaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae,

Chek List

Journal of species lists and distribution

Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae, Dendropsophus novaisi
(Bokermann, 1968) Distribution extension and geographic

Carlos Roberto dos Santos-Silva’, Crizanto Brito De-Carvalho and Stephen F. Ferrari

Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Programa de Pés-Graduacao em Ecologia e Conservacao. CEP 49100-000. Sao Cristévao, SE, Brazil.
* Corresponding author. E-mail: carlosbios14@yahoo.com.br

ABSTRACT: A new locality is presented for Dendropsophus novaisi in the municipality of Jeremoabo, Bahia, in the Brazilian
northeast. This new site represents the first record of the species within a conservation unit, the Raso da Catarina Ecological
Station, and extends its known geographic range approximately 436 km north and west of the type locality.

and Gramineae. All the male specimens (n = 7) were
captured when vocalizing at nightfall, when they were
found either on the ground or on perches in bushes and
saplings between 0.1 m and 3.0 m above the ground.
Reproductive activity was observed only during periods
of intense precipitation, indicating an explosive breeding
pattern (sensu Wells 1977) typical of the species of the
Dendropsophus marmoratus species group (Bertoluci
1998; Canelas and Bertoluci 2007; Orrico et al. 2009).

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4 ¥ py tf.

Np: .¥ df pt

TEAS Ge ms , Fi 4

FIGURE 1. Adult male Dendropsophus novaisi (C1750) from the E.E. Raso

da Catarina, in the municipality of Jeremoabo in the Brazilian state of

Bahia. Photo by CRS-S.

Identification of the species was based on Bokermann
(1968) and comparisons with specimens deposited in
the herpetological collection of Feira de Santana State
University (UEFS). The specimens collected in the present
study were deposited in this collection, under catalog
numbers MUEFS 3733-3736, and at the Federal University
of Sergipe, under numbers C1742-C1744, C1750, and
C1759. Specimen collection was authorized by the
Brazilian Federal Environment Institute (IBAMA), by the
concession of permit # 22094-2, issued by Instituto Chico
Mendes de Conservacao da Biodiversidade (ICMBio).

499

This is the second record of Dendropsophus novaisi from
the Brazilian state of Bahia, although this site is 436 km
north and west of the type locality (Figure 2). In addition
to this considerable extension in its known distribution,
confirmation of the occurrence of the species in the E.E.
Raso da Catarina, an integral protected area, represents
a significant advance for the conservation of the species.
The available data on D. novaisi indicates that the species
may occur throughout much of the southern extreme of
the Caatinga dominion (sensu Ab’Saber 1977), and that the
lack of records from other sites within this region may be
due to insufficient sampling effort, especially considering
that the species of the D. marmoratus group appear to be
explosive breeders (Orrico et al. 2009).

43°0'0"W 39°0'0"W ; a : 35°0'0"W

South America

Legend
%* = New record
A Literature

Gi ESEC Raso da Catarina
Brazil

Caatinga biome

02550 100 150 200
ees Kilometers

43°0'0"W

39°0'O"W

35°0'O"W
FIGURE 2. Known geographic distribution of Dendropsophus novaisi: 1.

Pedra Azul (Minas Gerais), 2. Maracas (Bahia), 3. E.E. Raso da Catarina
(Bahia).

Santos-Silva et al. | Geographic distribution map of Dendropsophus novaisi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: We are grateful to Dr. Flora Acuna Junca for help
with the identification of the species, CEMAVE and Otavio Nolasco for
logistics, CAPES (Federal Graduate Training Program) for graduate
stipends to CRS-S and CBD-C and other financial support, and CNPq
(Brazilian National Science Council) for a research grant to SFF
(#302747/2008-7).

LITERATURE CITED

Ab’Saber A.N. 1977. Os dominios morfoclimaticos na América do Sul.
Primeira aproximacao. Geomorfologia 52: 121.

Arzabe, C. 1999. Reproductive activity patterns of anurans in two different
altitudinal sites within the Brazilian Caatinga. Revista Brasileira de
Zoologia. 16 (3): 851-864.

Bertoluci, J. 1998. Annual patterns of breeding activity in Atlantic
Rainforest anurans. Journal of Herpetology 32(4): 607-611.

Bokermann, W.C.A. 1968. Three new Hyla from the Plateau of Maracas,
central Bahia, Brasil. Journal of Herpetology 1(1-4): 25-31.

Canelas, M.A.S. and J. Bertoluci 2007. Anurans of the Serra do Cara¢a,
southeastern Brazil: species composition and phenological patterns
of calling activity. [heringia, Série Zoolologia 97(1): 21-26.

Faivovich, J., C.FB. Haddad, P.C.A. Garcia, D.R. Frost, J.A. Campbell, and W.C.
Wheeler. 2005. Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with
special reference to Hylinae: phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic
revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 294:
1-240.

Frost, D.R. 2011. Amphibian species of the World: an online reference
version 5.5 (12 May, 2011). Electronic Database accessible at <http//
research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibiam/index.php>. American
Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Captured on 28 July,
2011.

Melo, J.I.M. and WM., Andrade. 2007. Boraginaceae s.]. A. Juss. em uma
area de Caatinga da ESEC Raso da Catarina, BA, Brasil. Acta Botanica
Brasilica. 21(2): 369-378.

Orrico, V.G.D., R. Lingnau and L.0.M. Giasson. 2009. The advertisement
call of Dendropsophus nahdereri (Anura, Hylidae, Dendropsophini).
South American Journal of Herpetology 4(3): 295-299.

Peixoto, O.L. and B., Pimenta. 2004. Dendropsophus novaisi. In
IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.Version 2011.1.
Electronic database accessible at www.iucnredlist.org. Captured on
26 July 2011.

Wells, K.D. 1977. The social behaviour of anuran amphibians. Animal
Behaviour 25(3): 666-693.

RECEIVED: October 2011

ACCEPTED: March 2012

PUBLISHED ONLINE: June 2012

EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Raul Maneyro

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