Reassessment of the advertisement call of topotypic Scinax squalirostris (Anura: Hylidae), with an acoustic evaluation of its occurrence in the Serra da Mantiqueira, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Reassessment of the advertisement call of topotypic Scinax squalirostris (Anura: Hylidae), with an acoustic evaluation of its occurrence in the Serra da Mantiqueira, southeastern Brazil. Scinax squalirostris (Lutz, 1925) is thought to occur along a broad range in South America. The values reported for calls of topotypes differ substantially among studies. Because vocalizations often play a key role in uncovering cryptic diversity, the call of S. squalirostris is herein redescribed based on a new sample of topotypes. The call of a population from Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais state, is also described. Topotypic advertisement calls have a dominant frequency between 3970 and 4125 Hz; 13–15 notes emitted at a rate of 24–27/s; call rate of 67/min and duration of 0.52–0.61 s; mid-call notes having 6 or 7 well-defined pulses, and an intra-note pulse rate of 223–266/s. Calls of the Poços de Caldas population have dominant frequency between 4083 and 4358 Hz; 15–18 notes emitted at a rate of 32–34/s; call rate of 64/min and duration of 0.46–0.56 s; mid-call notes having 6 or 8 well-defined pulses, and an intra-note pulse rate of 252–312/s. The advertisement calls of these populations have some differences with each other, and are promptly distinguished from calls of morphologically similar species. Our data to topotypes are inconsistent with some previously reported. A more detailed study of the population from Poços de Caldas is required, and more marked differences may be found in populations more distant from type locality of S. squalirostris.