Wednesday, March 23, 2022

[Herpetology • 2021] Phantasmarana gen. nov. • Paraphyly in the Giant Torrent-frogs (Anura: Hylodidae: Megaelosia) and the Description of A New Genus


preserved male Phantasmarana boticariana (D) and live male P. apuana (E) with contrasting white vocal sacs.

Adult male Crossodactylus caramaschii (A) highlighting its partially translucent vocal sac;
Adult male Hylodes phyllodes (B) and Hylodes asper (C) with completely translucent vocal sacs.

Phantasmarana gen. nov. 

in Vittorazzi, Augusto-Alves, Neves-da-Silva, ... et Bruschi. 2021. 

photos: by D. Perrella; B by L. F. Toledo; C by M. Martins; D by L. F. Toledo; E: by G. Augusto-Alves.

 Abstract
 The family Hylodidae is composed of 46 species distributed in three genera: Crossodactylus (13 species), Hylodes (26 species), and Megaelosia (seven species). Although the monophyly of the Hylodidae is supported by previous molecular phylogenetic inferences, the monophyly of Megaelosia and/or Hylodes has been questioned. Crossodactylus and Hylodes share the plesiomorphic diploid chromosomal number 2n = 26, whereas in the species of Megaelosia as karyotyped up to now, diploid numbers have ranged from 28 to 32. Here, we expand to six (of seven) the number of species of Megaelosia sampled in a phylogenetic approach based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences and describe the 26-chromosome karyotype of M. goeldii for the first time. Our results provide an improved perspective on the relationships among the frogs described previously in the genus Megaelosia, and we propose a new taxonomic arrangement, in which Megaelosia is a monotypic genus, with a new genus being described to accommodate the remaining species allocated previously to Megaelosia. We also confirm that 2n = 26 is the plesiomorphic diploid number in the Hylodidae, and conclude that an increased diploid chromosome number, together with two morphological traits and one ethological characteristic, are potential synapomorphies of the new genus. 

Key words: Amphibia, cytogenetic, Hylodes, new genus, phylogenetic inferences, systematics, taxonomy.

preserved male Phantasmarana boticariana (D: photograph by L. F. Toledo: ZUEC 11843) and live male P. apuana (E: frame extracted from video by G. Augusto-Alves: ZUEC-VID 402; Augusto-Alves et al. 2018) with contrasting white vocal sacs.

Adult male Crossodactylus caramaschii (frame extracted from a video by D. Perrella: ZUEC-VID 800) highlighting its partially translucent vocal sac (A);
Adult male Hylodes phyllodes (photograph by L. F. Toledo) and Hylodes asper (photograph by M. Martins) with completely translucent vocal sacs (B-C).
 
Phantasmarana gen. nov. 
Type species: Elosia massarti de Witte, 1930

Content. Six species. 
Phantasmarana apuana (Pombal, Prado & Canedo, 2003) comb. nov.; 
P. bocainensis (Giaretta, Bokermann & Haddad, 1993) comb. nov.; 
P. boticariana (Giaretta & Aguiar-Jr., 1998) comb. nov.; 
P. jordanensis (Heyer, 1983) comb. nov.; 
P. lutzae (Izecksohn & Gouvêa, 1987) comb. nov.; and 
P. massarti (De Witte, 1930) comb. nov

Etymology. The name Phantasmarana is derived from the combination of Latin words phantasma (= phantom) + rana (frog), meaning “phantom frogs” in reference to the extraordinary rarity of frogs of this genus in the wild (only few herpetologists have seen these frogs in their natural habitats), the lack of an advertisement call, and the fact that some enigmatic sounds have been reported. The gender is feminine. 

Distribution. The genus Phantasmarana occurs in forested areas of the Atlantic rainforest biome, ranging from the state of São Paulo (southern limit) to the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo (northern limit). Endemic to Brazil.


Stenio Eder Vittorazzi, Guilherme Augusto-Alves, Dener das Neves-da-Silva, Ana Maria Paulino Telles de Carvalho-e-Silva, Shirlei Maria Recco-Pimentel, Luís Felipe Toledo, Luciana Bolsoni Lourenço and Daniel Pacheco Bruschi. 2021. Paraphyly in the Giant Torrent-frogs (Anura: Hylodidae: Megaelosia) and the Description of A New Genus. SALAMANDRA. 57(2): 274–284.
 salamandra-journal.com/index.php/home/contents/2021-vol-57/2032-vittorazzi-s-e-g-augusto-alves-d-neves-da-silva-a-m-p-t-de-carvalho-e-silva-s-m-recco-pimentel-l-f-toledo-l-b-lourenco-d-p-bruschi/file

preserved male Phantasmarana boticariana (D) and live male P. apuana (E) with contrasting white vocal sacs.
Adult male Crossodactylus caramaschii (A) highlighting its partially translucent vocal sac;
Adult male Hylodes phyllodes (B) and Hylodes asper (C) with completely translucent vocal sacs.
photos: A: frame extracted from a video by D. Perrella: ZUEC-VID 800; B: photograph by L. F. Toledo; C: photograph by M. Martins; D: photograph by L. F. Toledo: ZUEC 11843; E: frame extracted from video by G. Augusto-Alves: ZUEC-VID 402; Augusto-Alves et al. 2018