Sunday, October 4, 2026

[Herpetology • 2026] Ololygon cataguas • A New Species of Ololygon (Anura: Hylidae) from the Zona Da Mata Region, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

 

Ololygon cataguas
 Folly, Assis, Santana, Lacerda, Lourenço & Feio, 2026
 

 Abstract  
We describe a new species of Ololygon from the Ololygon catharinae species group. Ololygon sp. nov. is known only from the Atlantic Forest of Cataguases municipality, Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais state, southeast Brazil. The new species of treefrog is characterized by the combination of the following characters: medium size (male snout–vent length [SVL] 21.7–24.7 mm, female SVL 27.1–33.8 mm); snout rounded with mucronate tip in dorsal view; males with vocal slits present; vocal sac not expanded externally; interocular region with a w-shaped blotch not exceeding beyond the anterior margin of tympanic level; males with hypertrophied forearms; dorsal portion of the iris homogeneously pigmented; males with nuptial pads protruding; males with a developed pair of inguinal glands; in life, inguinal region and hidden surfaces of thigh with irregular dark brown spots on a white or slightly bluish background; in life, overall night coloration beige in males; call duration of 0.17–0.45 s; call composed of 4–10 notes; note duration of 3–28 ms; note emission rate of 16.8–32.5 notes per second; notes composed of 2–14 pulses; call with a dominant frequency of 2.67–4.56 kHz. We also show data about its habitat, natural history, and conservation and suggest a new diagnostic character for some species belonging to the Ololygon species.

KEYWORDS: Atlantic forest, bioacoustics, Scinaxini, taxonomy

Live topotypical specimens of Ololygon cataguas sp. nov.:
(A, B, C) males and (D) female. (E) Recently killed male.
Photos: C.L. Assis and H. Folly.

Ololygon cataguas sp. nov.

Etymology.—“Cataguas” refers to an indigenous ethnic group that lived in the forests of the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais. Furthermore, the municipality where the type series was collected is called Cataguases. The name is used here as a noun in apposition.
 
 
Henrique Folly, Clodoaldo L. Assis, Diego J. Santana, João V. A. Lacerda, Ana Carolina C. Lourenço and Renato N. Feio. 2026. A New Species of Ololygon (Anura: Hylidae) from the Zona Da Mata Region, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Herpetologica. 82(1); 241-256. DOI: doi.org/10.1655/Herpetologica-D-24-00007  (30 September 2026)