Unveiling the diversity of Giant Neotropical Torrent frogs (Hylodidae): phylogenetic relationships, morphology, and the description of two new species

Abstract

The Neotropical family Hylodidae comprises 46 currently recognized rheophilic Torrent frog species, today classified in the genera Crossodactylus, Hylodes, Megaelosia, and Phantasmarana, all endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Megaelosia and Phantasmarana are distributed along the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira mountain ranges, southeastern Brazil, and are the least speciose genera of the family, including all the mute giant hylodids. Megaelosia is a monotypic genus, whereas Phantasmarana comprises six currently recognized species: P. apuana, P. bocainensis, P. boticariana, P. jordanensis, P. lutzae, and P. massarti. Herein, we provide a taxonomic revision of these Giant Neotropical Torrent frogs, offering a comprehensively sampled species-level molecular phylogeny. By combining molecular and morphological data, we confirm that Megaelosia and Phantasmarana are valid genera. We provide diagnostic traits for both genera, redescribe the poorly known species P. jordanensis, and describe two new species from distinct localities at Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, P. curucutuensis sp. nov. and P. tamuia sp. nov., presenting details of adult and larval morphology, and notes on their natural history and behaviour. We further discuss systematic and taxonomic concerns, and evolutionary processes related to distribution, body sizes, and communication in the family Hylodidae.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:61EA0116-6FB9-44B8-A2CE-E99D7B887E8B

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:079339E6-C802-4B47-A3A3-9FA0D0FCA3D1

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0EA22628-89E9-483B-AB90-F3F0D18E28F1

Key words:

• Amphibia
• Anura
• Atlantic Forest
• gigantism
• Hylodes, Megaelosia
• mountain ranges
• muteness
• Phantasmarana
• visual communication

Acknowledgments

We thank A. F. Sabbag for helping with laboratorial procedures; D. Baêta for tissue samples; M. W. Cardoso and N. C. Pupin for technical support; and H. Zaher, T. Grant, J. P. Pombal Jr., and L. F. Toledo for specimen loans. We thank Jaime Somera for drawings; M. Teixeira Jr. for a picture of Megaelosia goeldii; and J. V. Lacerda, M. R. de Moura, and T. R. de Carvalho for information on species records. We thank J. M. Onça for improving our use of written English. We thank D. Gower, N. A. Poyarkov, S. R. Chandramouli, E. Lehr, and anonymous referees for valuable comments and suggestions on earlier versions of the manuscript. We thank Instituto Florestal, Fundação Florestal, and Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar (PESM), particularly acknowledging M. Alonso, T. Schimidt, and M. J. Gonçalves from Núcleo Curucutu, J. P. Villani from Núcleo Santa Virgínia, and L. M. Fenille from Núcleo Cunha, for all logistical support; and Centro de Estudos de Insetos Sociais (CEIS), UNESP Rio Claro, for the use of molecular laboratory facilities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2039318.

Associate Editor: Dr David Gower

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the following funding agencies: São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil: #2014/24972-4 and #2020/11125-2 to FPS, #2014/23677-9 to LRM, #2015/00461-1 to THC, and #2013/50741-7 and #2014/50342-8 to CFBH; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES—Finance Code 001), Brazil: to FPS; and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil: #141259/2014-0 to LRM, #302308/2019-9, #302386/2020-3, and #301381/2020-8 to THC, and 306623/2018-8 to CFBH.