Neotropics

Two new Pristimantis (Anura: Terrarana: Strabomantidae) from the Sierra de Perijá, Venezuela, Barrio-Amorós, César L., Rojas-Runjaic Fernando, and Barros Tito R. , Zootaxa, Volume 2329, p.1-21, (Submitted)

Underwater acoustic communication in the macrophagic carnivorous larvae of Ceratophrys ornata (Anura: Ceratophryidae), Natale, Guillermo S., Alcalde Leandro, Herrera Raul, Cajade Rodrigo, Schaefer Eduardo F., Marangoni Federico, and Trudeau Vance L. , Acta Zoologica, Number 9999, (2010)

Challenging Wallacean and Linnean shortfalls: knowledge gradients and conservation planning in a biodiversity hotspot, Bini, L., Diniz-Filho J., Rangel T., Bastos R., and Pinto M. , Diversity and Distributions, Volume 12, Number 5, p.475-482, (2006)

Neotropical diversification: the effects of a complex history on diversity within the poison frog genus Dendrobates, Noonan, B., and Wray K. , Journal of Biogeography (J. Biogeogr.), Volume 33, p.1007-1020, (2006)

Comparative osteology and evolution of the lungless salamanders, family Plethodontidae, Wake, David B. , Mem. So. California Acad. Sci., Volume 4, p.1-111, (1966)

From the AWeb Site:

CalPhotos

A new paper from Acta Zoologica (Natale et al. 2010) reports that the tadpole of Ceratophrys ornata makes distress calls underwater, the first example of any larva communicating by sound underwater, and the first known of any vertebrate larva to make sounds.

Tropical cloud forest climate variability and the demise of the Monteverde golden toad, Anchukaitis, Kevin J., and Evans Michael N. , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 1, 2010, Volume online, p.-, (2010)

A key ecological trait drove the evolution of biparental care and monogamy in an amphibian, Brown, Jason L., Morales Victor, and Summers Kyle , The American Naturalist, Volume 175, Number 4, p.436-446, (2010)

A new species of the Scinax catharinae species group (Anura: Hylidae) from Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, Lourenço, Ana Carolina Calijorne, Nascimento Luciana Barreto, and Pires Maria Rita Silvério , Herpetologica, Volume 65, Number 4, p.468-479, (2009)

A new species of Microcaecilia (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from Suriname, Wilkinson, Mark, Nussbaum Ronald, and Hoogmoed Marinus , Herpetologica, Volume 65, Number 4, p.413-418., (2009)

The first known monogamous amphibian species, based on genetic data, is Dendrobates imitator (Brown et al. 2010) as reported in a paper in the April issue of American Naturalist.

From the AmphibiaWeb site

A team of American and Ecuadorian scientists, working for the nonprofit organization Reptile and Amphibian Ecology International, has discovered an estimated 30 new species of rain frogs (genus Pristimantis) at a site in coastal Ecuador. Nearly half of the new species come from a small cloudforest patch on Cerro Pata de Pájaro. Cloudforests and surrounding rainforest usually contain high biodiversity and are under threat from both logging and climate change. For more Ecuadorian amphibians also see QCAZ's site AmphibiaWeb Ecuador (en Español).

Reproductive mode plasticity: aquatic and terrestrial oviposition in a treefrog, Touchon, Justin Charles, and Warkentin Karen Michelle , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, May 27, Volume 105, Number 21, p.7495-9, (2008)

Global conservation significance of Ecuador's Yasuní National Park, Bass, Margot S., Finer Matt, Jenkins Clinton N., Kreft Holger, Cisneros-Heredia Diego F., McCracken Shawn F., Pitman Nigel C. A., English Peter H., Swing Kelly, Villa Gorky, et al. , PLoS ONE, Volume 5, Number 1, p.e8767, (2010)

Amazonian amphibian diversity is primarily derived from Late Miocene Andean lineages, Santos, J. C., Coloma L. A., Summers K., Caldwell J. P., Ree R., and Cannatella D. C. , PLoS biology, Mar 10, Volume 7, Number 3, p.e56, (2009)

Acoustic signals, species diagnosis, and species concepts: the case of a new cryptic species of Leptodactylus (Amphibia, Anura, Leptodactylidae) from the Chapare region, Bolivia., Angulo, Ariadne, and Reichle Steffen , Zoological J. Linnean Society , Volume 152, p.59-77, (2008)

The relative roles of vicariance versus elevational gradients in the genetic differentiation of the high Andean tree frog, Dendropsophus labialis, Guarnizo, C. E., Amézquita A., and Bermingham E. , Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, Jan 1, Volume 50, Number 1, p.84-92, (2009)

Systematics of Oreobates and the Eleutherodactylus discoidalis species group (Amphibia, Anura), based on two mitochondrial DNA genes and external morphology, Padial, José M., Chaparro Juan Carlos, and de la Riva Ignacio , Zoological J. Linnean Society , Volume 152, p.737-773, (2008)

Dramatic declines in neotropical salamander populations are an important part of the global amphibian crisis, Rovito, Sean M., Parra-Olea Gabriela, Vásquez-Almazán Carlos R., Papenfuss Theodore J., and Wake David B. , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 9, 2009, p.-, (2009)

Genetic divergence and speciation in lowland and montane peruvian poison frogs, Roberts, J. L., Brown J. L., May R., Arizabal W., Schulte R., and Summers K. , Mol Phylogenet Evol, Oct 1, Volume 41, Number 1, p.149-64, (2006)