Low Occurrence of Salmonella spp. in Wild Animals in Bahia, Brazil-Population Assessment and Characterization in the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest Biomes.

Salmonella spp. are known to persist in the environment. Wild animals are believed to act as important reservoirs, with antimicrobial resistance frequently occurring in the environment. However, little is known about the role of the wildlife in Bahia as a reservoir for Salmonella in Brazil. This study aimed to isolate and characterize Salmonella spp. from wildlife in the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga biomes considering indicators such as the animal species, degree of anthropization, sampling area, and feeding habits. Convenience wildlife sampling and characterization were conducted, followed by microbiological and molecular identification of Salmonella isolates, serotyping, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. A total of 674 fecal samples were collected from 12 municipalities during 2015-2021, and 4 were positive for the following Salmonella species: Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Agona (n = 1), Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serogroup O:16 (n = 2), and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Muenchen (n = 1). Antimicrobial susceptibility analysis revealed that one isolate was resistant to six antibiotics, including extended-spectrum penicillins and beta-lactamase inhibitors. These results indicated a low frequency of Salmonella spp. in the sampled forest fragments. The presence of Salmonella in wild animals increases the risk to public health and biodiversity and indicates that they can act as sentinels of environmental contamination or indicators of preservation.

First karyotype description of the species of Adenomera Steindachner, 1867 (Anura, Leptodactylidae) in the " thomei" clade.

The genus Adenomera Steindachner, 1867 currently comprises 29 nominal species, some of which are suggested to be cryptic species complexes. The present study was carried out with specimens of the "thomei" clade that encompasses three taxa distributed in the Atlantic Forest biome: Adenomerathomei Almeida et Angulo, 2006, Adenomera sp. L., and Adenomera sp. M. We used classical cytogenetics to describe the diploid number and karyomorphology of these three species collected in two different locations in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Our results revealed the diploid number 2n = 24 (FN = 34) with two pairs of metacentric chromosomes (pairs 1 and 5), three pairs of submetacentric chromosomes (pairs 2, 3, and 4), and seven pairs of telocentric chromosomes (pairs 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12). Further morphological, bioacoustic, and cytogenetic data (C-banding and AgNor) are needed to better delineate the lineages within the "thomei" clade.

Amphibians in Zootaxa: 20 years documenting the global diversity of frogs, salamanders, and caecilians.

Zootaxa is a mega-journal that since its inception, 20 years ago, has contributed to the documentation of the planet's biodiversity. Its role concerning terrestrial vertebrates has been crucial especially for amphibians, which are the most threatened class of vertebrates. As current editors of the Amphibia section, we reviewed the state of knowledge of taxonomic publications on amphibians over the last two decades (from 2001 to 2020). Our review reveals that 2,533 frogs, 259 salamanders, and 55 caecilians have been named in these 20 years, mainly in the tropical regions of South America, Asia, and Africa. More than half (57%) of these species descriptions were published in only 10 journals. At least 827 species of the new amphibians (29% of the total) were described in Zootaxa. This mega-journal has served also as a place of publication for monographs and systematic reviews, in addition to short articles documenting the vocalizations of anurans and the morphology of embryos and larvae. Its efficient evaluation process, the freedom of manuscript length, including full-color figures, and free of cost for the authors, has made Zootaxa a favorite for amphibian researchers. In an era of accelerating rates of biodiversity loss, documenting, describing, naming, and proposing evolutionary scenarios for species is, more than ever, an urgent task.

Amphibians and reptiles of Parque Nacional da Serra das Lontras: an important center of endemism within the Atlantic Forest in southern Bahia, Brazil.

Information gaps about species distribution hamper the evaluation of conservation status and decisions on biodiversity conservation, affecting to a greater extent, areas with high species richness and endemism. In this context, biological inventories are an important tool to fill these gaps by providing data on the composition, richness, and abundance of species in each locality. The Parque Nacional da Serra das Lontras (PNSL) protects various mountain range just up 1000 m. in altitude, and, together with other conservation units, forms an ecological corridor in the southern part of the state of Bahia, within the Atlantic Forest hotspot. We conducted systematic samplings on transects, and opportunistic records in ponds and streams, in order to record amphibian and reptile species in the PNSL. We complement the sampling with the information available in the literature and in scientific collections. A total of 100 species (49 amphibians and 51 reptiles) was recorded, 53 of them endemic to the Atlantic Forest, 13 to the state of Bahia, and two known only from the PNSL. Hylidae was the most diverse family of amphibians (22 spp.) and Colubridae of reptiles (33 spp.). New information on the distribution and natural history of these species is provided, many of which have not yet been assessed by the IUCN while others have already been categorized as at risk of extinction at the regional level. Results confirm the high species richness and rates of endemism in southern Bahia and highlight the importance of protecting high altitude areas for the preservation of evolutionary and ecological processes within the Atlantic Forest.

The tadpole of Phyllodytes praeceptor (Anura: Hylidae).

Phyllodytes Wagler 1830 is a genus composed of small species (SVL ranging 2.1-4.2 mm) that present odontoids and dwells in South America (Faivovich et al. 2005; Frost 2018). All known species of this genus are bromeligenous using bromeliads as shelter, calling site (males) and as egg deposition site (females). Offspring develops at the water retained in the axils (e.g., Bokermann 1966; Peixoto 1995; Haddad et al. 2013).

The 100th: An appealing new species of Dendropsophus (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) from northeastern Brazil.

We describe a new species of the Dendropsophus leucophyllatus Group from the Atlantic Forest of the southern region of State of Bahia, Brazil. It can be distinguished from all species of the D. leucophyllatus Group on the basis of morphological characters (especially its unique dorsal pattern and snout in dorsal view), advertisement calls and divergence in mitochondrial DNA gene sequences. The inclusion of D. anceps on the group remains controversial but our phylogenetic analyses do not recover the new species as sister to syntopic species of the D. leucophyllatus Group (with or without D. anceps). These results also highlight the palimpsest that is past relation between the Atlantic and Amazon forests.

A new Dendropsophus Fitzinger, 1843 (Anura: Hylidae) of the parviceps group from the lowlands of the Guiana Shield.

Many Amazonian frog species that are considered widely distributed may actually represent polyspecific complexes.. A minute tree frog from the Guiana Shield originally assigned to the allegedly widely distributed Dendropsophus brevifrons proved to be a yet undescribed species within the D. parviceps group. We herein describe this new species and present a phylogeny for the D. parviceps group. The new species is diagnosed from other Dendropsophus of the parviceps group by its small body size (19.6-21.7 mm in males, 22.1-24.5 mm in females), thighs dorsally dark grey with cream blotches without bright yellow patch, absence of dorsolateral and canthal stripe, and an advertisement call comprising trills (length 0.30-0.35 s) composed of notes emitted at a rate of 131-144 notes/s, generally followed by click series of 2-3 notes. Its tadpole is also singular by having fused lateral marginal papillae and absence of both labial teeth and submarginal papillae. Genetic distances (p-distance) are >5.3% on the 12S and >9.3% on the 16S from D. brevifrons, its closest relative. This species occurs from the Brazilian state of Amapá, across French Guiana and Suriname to central Guyana and is likely to also occur in adjacent Brazilian states and eastern Venezuela. This species is not rare but is difficult to collect because of its arboreal habits and seasonal activity peaks.