Data collected by citizen scientists reveal the role of climate and phylogeny on the frequency of shelter types used by frogs across the Americas.

Shelters are microhabitats where animals rest and hide. These microhabitats can be used from short daily periods to long-term estivation or hibernation. Environmental conditions and the phenotypical characteristics of the animal drive habitat selection in relation to shelters. Based on this, climate regions and phylogeny are expected to affect the use of different shelter types. Although shelters are yet to be described for most anuran species, a variety of microhabitats have already been reported as shelter-sites, including dense vegetation, rock crevices, and holes in the ground. In this study, we evaluated photos of frogs for sheltering behaviour from 29 countries in the Americas deposited on the popular citizen-science platform, iNaturalist. We compared the frequency of use of different shelter types identified on the photos among different climate regions and anuran families, also testing possible phylogenetic signals. We identified 11,133 photographs of 378 frog species showing individuals hiding in shelters or in a resting position. We classified observations into 10 shelter types, with live vegetation (24.7 %) being the most commonly recorded natural shelter, followed by hole in the ground (11.4 %) and tree trunk (11.1 %). The use of different shelter types varied between arid and humid climates, and also among different anuran families. We found strong phylogenetic signal for three shelter types (hole in the ground, live vegetation, and water) and the differences in shelter use among taxa suggest a relation with body characteristics. Approximately 47 % of observations of threatened and near threatened species were in hole in the ground, while artificial habitat represented only 3.6 % of the observations in this group. The daily pattern of shelter use corroborated the nocturnal activity of most species. Our findings also expanded the description of shelter sites for 330 species that had no published information on this behaviour. This study contributes to our current knowledge about animal behaviour and highlights the use of citizen science as an effective approach to understand the natural history of amphibians at a large scale.

Description and evolution of the larynx of the Physalaemus olfersii species group, with remarks on the laryngeal anatomy of the P. cuvieri clade (Amphibia: Anura: Leiuperinae).

The anuran larynx is an organ of great evolutionary interest because it impacts male reproductive success in courtships. However, little is known about the diversity of the larynx's anatomy, evolutionary history and systematics importance. Here, we describe and compare the anatomy of the larynx of 10 Physalaemus species of the P. cuvieri clade, focusing on the P. olfersii species group. We also reconstructed the ancestral states and tested the phylogenetic signal for the anatomical features. In all the species, the larynx has a general globular shape with the arytenoid cartilages covering almost its entire dorsal surface, while the anterior process of the cricoid cartilages covers most of the ventral surface. The size of the secondary fibrous mass, the thickness of the vocal membrane, and the attachment position of the vocal membrane's free edge considerably differ among the species. Moreover, only four species of a single clade in the P. olfersii species group have the primary fibrous mass well-developed with a suspended region in the dorsolateral passage. We found a significant phylogenetic signal for all these characters. Ancestral reconstructions pointed to reduction tendencies in the thickness of the vocal membrane and the size of the secondary fibrous mass, and a shift of the ventral attachment of the vocal membrane, increasing the angle of its free edge along the phylogeny. This latter trait can diagnose the entire Physalaemus olfersii group, which has the ventral ends of the arytenoids positioned posteriorly, giving this group the steepest angles for the vocal membrane's free edge in relation to the frontal plane. Based on our results, the larynges can contribute to the Physalaemus olfersii species group's systematics and could be elucidative to understand the evolution of the genus. High levels of anatomical and bioacoustical complexity and diversity observed in the group support the expected correlation between vocal anatomy and bioacoustical signal.

Review of bioacoustical traits in the genus Physalaemus Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura: Leptodactylidae: Leiuperinae).

Given the importance of acoustic communication in intraspecific recognition during mating activity, acoustic traits have been widely used to clarify the taxonomy of anurans. They have been particularly useful in the study of taxa with high morphological similarity such as the Neotropical genus Physalaemus. Here, we reviewed the acoustic repertoires of the species of Physalaemus based on homology hypotheses in order to make comparisons more properly applicable for taxonomic purposes. We covered all the known clades and species groups for the genus, analyzing 45 species (94 % of the currently recognized taxa). Different call types were labeled with letters (i.e., A, B, and C) to avoid speculative functional propositions for the call types. In order to identify correctly the observed frequency bands, we propose a method to interpret them based on the predicted graphic behavior on audiospectrogram and on the mathematic relationship among bands considering each kind of band production (e.g., harmonics and sidebands). We found different acoustic traits between the major clades P. signifer and P. cuvieri. Species in the P. signifer clade have more than one call type (67 % of species in the clade). Furthermore, all species of this clade have A calls with pulses and/or low fundamental frequency (< 500 Hz). In the P. cuvieri clade, species emit only one call type and, in most species, this call is a continuous whine-like emission with relatively high fundamental frequency (> 400 Hz) and several S-shaped harmonics (except for species of P. henselii and P. olfersii groups, P. centralis, and P. cicada). Within the P. signifer clade, pulsed calls are present in P. angrensis, P. atlanticus, P. bokermanni, P. crombiei, P. irroratus, P. moreirae, P. nanus, and P. obtectus, whereas within the P. cuvieri clade this feature is restricted to a few species (10 % of the clade): P. jordanensis, P. feioi, and P. orophilus. A principal component analysis of the quantitative data indicates two clusters that substantially correspond to the composition of these two major clades with a few exceptions. Overall, the cluster composed of taxa of the P. signifer clade has lower fundamental frequency, bandwidth and dominant frequency at the end of the call and higher frequency delta and dominant frequency at the end of the call than the cluster with most taxa of the P. cuvieri clade. We also identified and described several similarities among acoustic signals of closely related species, which might correspond to synapomorphies in the evolution of the acoustic signal in the group. Species of the P. deimaticus group emit long sequences of very short A calls with low fundamental frequency (< 300 Hz) and short duration (< 0.2 s). Most species in the P. signifer group have clearly pulsed calls and emit at least two different call types. Species in the P. henselii group have calls with only high frequency bands (> 1700 Hz). Species in P. cuvieri group have continuous calls that resemble nasal-like sounds or whines, with downward frequency modulation. Species in the P. olfersii group emit long calls (> 1 s) with ascendant and periodic frequency modulation. Calls of the species in the P. biligonigerus and P. gracilis groups usually have continuous whine-like calls with call envelopes very variable within species. In addition, we describe traits in the genus for the first time, such as complex traits not predicted by simple and linear acoustic models (nonlinear phenomena), and discuss the application of acoustic traits to taxonomy and phylogenetics and morphological constraints of the vocal apparatus that might be related to the different acoustic properties found.

First description of sound emission of Rhaphiptera affinis Thomson, 1868 (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae: Pteropliini).

Cerambycidae is one of the largest families of beetles, containing about 38,000 described species (Tavakilian Chevillotte 2018). In most species of this family, adults possess a stridulatory device that allows them to produce squeaking sounds (Wang 2017). In the subfamilies Prioninae and Parandrinae, individuals stridulate by rubbing their ridged hind femora against elytral margins (Svácha Lawrence 2014). In the other subfamilies, including Lamiinae, the stridulation is produced by friction between the ventral face of the posterior pronotal margin (plectrum) and a striated plate on the mesoscutum (pars stridens) (Svácha Lawrence 2014). Although some adults produce sounds during courtship and copulation, this sound production occurs mainly when individuals are disturbed, being considered a defensive mechanism that might act as a startle response against predators (Dumortier 1963; Svácha Lawrence 2014; Wang 2017).

A fifth species of the genus Euparkerella (Griffths, 1959), the advertisement calls of E. robusta Izecksohn, 1988 and E. tridactyla Izecksohn, 1988, and a key for the Euparkerella species (Anura: Brachycephaloidea: Craugastoridae).

A new species of the anuran genus Euparkerella is described from a rainforest area in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. Morphologically, the species resembles E. brasiliensis and E. cochranae, but differs from them in acoustic features. Relative to its congeners, the new species is characterized by: (1) medium size; (2) slender body; (3) narrow head; (4) long Finger IV, Toes I and V; (5) tubercles of the hand and foot protuberant; (6) duration of advertisement call longer than three seconds; (7) pulse-section rate slower than two sections/second; and (8) exhibiting pulse clusters. The advertisement calls of E. robusta and E. tridactyla are described and a key based on morphological and acoustic characters is presented for species in the genus.

Anfíbios anuros da RPPN Campo Escoteiro Geraldo Hugo Nunes, Município de Guapimirim, Rio de Janeiro, Sudeste do Brasil / Anuran Amphibians from RPPN Campo Escoteiro Geraldo Hugo Nunes, Guapimirim Municipality, Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil

Os anfíbios anuros da RPPN Campo Escoteiro Geraldo Hugo Nunes, localizado no Município de Guapimirim, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, foram inventariados e estudados. A região é um remanescente de Mata Atlântica de Baixada que ocupa 45,2 ha e está situada sobre um solo hidromórfico que favorece a ocorrência de áreas alagadas permanentes e temporárias. Para o inventário, realizamos excursões para coleta e registro de anfíbios desde a década de 80, estando este material tombado na coleção zoológica do Instituto de Biologia da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Um total de 40 espécies de anfíbios da ordem Anura foi encontrado na região, distribuídas em 10 famílias: Hylidae (N = 23), Bufonidae (4), Leptodactylidae (4), Cycloramphidae (2), Microhylidae (2), Brachycephalidae, Craugastoridae, Hemiphractidae, Leiuperidae e Strabomantidae com uma espécie cada.

We studied the anuran amphibians from RPPN Campo Escoteiro Geraldo Hugo Nunes. The region is located in the Municipality of Guapimirim, State of Rio de Janeiro, in Southeastern Brazil and represents a lowland Atlantic Rainforest remaining, which has 45.2 ha. The hydromorphic soil is conducive to the occurrence of permanent and temporary wetlands. For the study, we carried out field expeditions since the 1980's, being the collected specimens housed at the zoological collection of the Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. A total of 40 amphibian species of the order Anura have been found at the study site. The species are distributed in 10 families: Hylidae (N = 23), Bufonidae (4), Leptodactylidae (4), Cycloramphidae (2), Microhylidae (2), and Brachycephalidae, Craugastoridae, Hemiphractidae, Leiuperidae and Strabomantidae with one species each. Data on local reproductive environments of the recorded species are provided.