[Herpetology • 2025] Dryadobates gen. nov., Dryadobates bokermanni, D. lutzi ... • Museomics and the Systematics of the Atlantic Forest Nurse Frogs (Dendrobatoidea: Aromobatidae: Allobatinae)

 

Dryadobates lutzi

Dryadobates bokermanni

Grant, Lyra, Hofreiter, Preick, Barlow, Verdade & Rodrigues, 2025

DOI: doi.org/10.1206/0003-0090.472.1.1 

 

Abstract

For four decades after 1967, four species of nurse frogs were recognized in the Atlantic Forest, namely Allobates alagoanus (Bokermann, 1967), A. capixaba (Bokermann, 1967), A. carioca (Bokermann, 1967), and A. olfersioides (A. Lutz, 1925), but in 2007 they were synonymized due to a lack of morphological differences. Although growing evidence from DNA and bioacoustics suggests that multiple species of nurse frogs inhabit the Atlantic Forest, their taxonomy has not been updated because populations at the four type localities had all vanished by the 1990s, making it impossible to collect tissues for DNA analysis and other data (e.g., vocalizations) from topotypic material. To overcome the lack of modern tissues, we employed museomics to obtain historical DNA from topotypic material of the four nominal species, which we analyzed together with data from extant populations from throughout the Atlantic Forest and Atlantic Forest enclaves within the Caatinga. We found that the Atlantic Forest nurse frogs comprise a well-supported clade of no fewer than 12 species that arrived in the Atlantic Forest via a single invasion from the Guiana Shield. We propose Dryadobates, gen. nov., for this clade, which is the sister group of all other allobatines. We consider the four nominal species to be valid, redescribe them as D. alagoanus, comb. nov., D. capixaba, comb. nov., D. carioca, comb. nov., and D. olfersioides, comb. nov., describe two sister species (D. bokermanni, sp. nov., and D. lutzi, sp. nov.) from southern Bahia, and summarize available information for the remaining six undescribed species. The type series of D. olfersioides comprises two species, so we designate a lectotype to clarify the application of the name. Dryadobates alagoanus is extant and broadly distributed, but D. capixaba, D. carioca, and D. olfersioides are presumed extinct, representing 50% of the nominal species of Dryadobates. These results provide a clear and consequential example of the essential role museomics and taxonomy play in understanding diversity loss and setting conservation priorities.

 

Keywords: Dendrobatidae, Mata Atlântica, Classification, Frogs, Genetics, Dryadobates, Museomics.

Dryadobates bokermanni, sp. nov., adult in life.
Adult male holotype (MZUSP 160849, 16.7 mm SVL): A, dorsal view; B, ventral view.
C, adult female topoparatype (MZUSP 160848, 17.8 mm SVL), ventral view. Photographs: T.G.

Dryadobates lutzi, sp. nov., adult male paratypes in life.
 A, dorsal view (MZUSP 160544, 14.7 mm SVL; photograph: M.T.R.);
B, ventral view (MZUESC 20074, 15.5 mm SVL; photograph: Omar Rojas Padilla).

Dryadobates gen. nov.

Dryadobates bokermanni sp. nov.

Dryadobates lutzi sp. nov.

Dryadobates olfersioides comb. nov.

Dryadobates alagoanus , D. capixaba , D. carioca (removed from the synonymy of Dryadobates olfersioides)

Dryadobates alagoanus adult male in life (an individual in the series CHUFPE 1817–1823):
A, dorsal view; B, ventral view.

Photographs: Marcos Dubeux.

 

Taran Grant, Mariana L. Lyra, Michael Hofreiter, Michaela Preick, Axel Barlow, Vanessa K. Verdade, Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues. 2025. Museomics and the Systematics of the Atlantic Forest Nurse Frogs (Dendrobatoidea: Aromobatidae: Allobatinae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 2025(472); 1-76. DOI: doi.org/10.1206/0003-0090.472.1.1  [6 May 2025]

https://hdl.handle.net/2246/7504

[Ornithology • 2026] Pulsatrix perspicillata & Pulsatrix pulsatrix • Museomics resolves 200 years of Taxonomic Uncertainty: Strix pulsatrix Wied, 1820 (Strigiformes: Strigidae) is A Valid Species

in Bolívar-Leguizamón, Corrêa, Bencke et Silveira. 2026.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108488

Artwork by Eduardo Brettas
 instagram.com/EduardoBrettas

 

Highlights

• Pulsatrix perspicillata is an owl found from Mexico to Argentina and Brazil.

• The taxonomic position of the P. p. pulsatrix subspecies is a matter of controversy.

• Historical DNA shows great divergence between the pulsatrix and perspicillata taxa.

• The pulsatrix-perspicillata clade is sister to a melanota-koeniswaldiana clade.

• Pleistocene climatic oscillations influenced the diversification of the genus.

• We proposed elevating the subspecies pulsatrix of P. perspicillata to species status.

Abstract

The identification of valid species is central to biology, and genetic data have been essential in uncovering new taxonomic units across groups. For polytypic taxa, genetics helps distinguish valid units from natural variation. Pulsatrix perspicillata (Spectacled Owl) is a widespread polytypic species with six recognized subspecies. We used genetic data and museomics techniques to: (i) test the validity of Strix pulsatrix Wied, 1820 (=Pulsatrix perspicillata pulsatrix) as a species distinct from Pulsatrix perspicillata; and (ii) estimate the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times within the genus Pulsatrix Kaup, 1848. We conducted population structure and phylogenetic analyses using SNPs matrices and alignments of Ultraconserved Elements (UCEs) from 16 individuals of Pulsatrix spp., including four historical samples of P. p. pulsatrix. Additionally, we sequenced the mtDNA-ND2 gene from 38 samples representing all known Pulsatrix species to further elucidate phylogenetic relationships and estimate divergence times. Our results indicate that Pulsatrix perspicillata pulsatrix represents an independent lineage from P. perspicillata, as supported by its reciprocal monophyly and distinct population structure. UCE analyses also grouped P. koeniswaldiana (Tawny-browed Owl) and P. melanota (Band-bellied Owl) into a distinct cluster. Phylogenetic analyses based on both UCEs and mtDNA-ND2 sequences support the monophyly of the genus Pulsatrix. Pulsatrix koeniswaldiana and P. melanota form a monophyletic group that is sister to P. perspicillata. Pulsatrix diverged in the Late Miocene and diversified in the Pliocene-Quaternary. The evolutionary history of Pulsatrix appears to have been influenced by (a) the final phase of the Andean uplift and (b) climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene. Pulsatrix p. pulsatrix shows genetic divergence consistent with a species-level split from P. perspicillata, and we henceforth recognize it as Pulsatrix pulsatrix (Wied 1820). We recommend future studies to assess its current distribution and inform the development of conservation strategies.

 

Keywords: Museomics, UCEsmt-ND2, Pulsatrix, Spectacled Owl, Neotropics, Systematics, Phylogeography 

 

Pulsatrix perspicillata 

Sergio D. Bolívar-Leguizamón, Aline Henrique Corrêa, Glayson Ariel Bencke and Luís F. Silveira. 2026. Museomics resolves 200 years of Taxonomic Uncertainty: Strix pulsatrix Wied, 1820 (Strigiformes, Strigidae) is A Valid Species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 108488. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108488 [27 October 2025]

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