We describe the advertisement call and calling perch of Ikakogi tayrona, a glassfrog species endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia), based on 85 calls from 16 individuals. The advertisement call consists of 3–4 “beep” notes with amplitude modulation. Mean note duration was 0.024 ± 0.005 s, with notes separated by silent intervals of 0.085 ± 0.017 s, mean call duration was 0.269 ± 0.031 s, and the dominant frequency of the whole call was 2.713 ± 0.102 kHz, being inversely related with body size of the signaler. The advertisement call of I. tayrona is clearly distinguished from the call of other glassfrogs and species of Allophrynidae, the sister clade of Centrolenidae. Males called frequently from the underside of leaves. The height of the calling perch ranged from 51–250 cm above the ground. Since I. tayrona is an early-diverging lineage of glassfrogs, our data offer important baseline information to understand the evolutionary biology of auditory signals and calling behavior in centrolenid frogs.

Liolaemus silvai is a poorly known species of the L. nigromaculatus group. Currently, its distribution is restricted to the type locality (Carrizalillo, Atacama Region, Chile) and despite being a highly variable species no study has provided a clear diagnosis or color photographs. Here, we provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for the L. nigromaculatus group based on mitochondrial DNA, where L. silvai is strongly supported as the sister taxon to L. zapallarensis. Also, we provide a detailed diagnosis, description of variation, and four new locality records for L. silvai. In addition, we call attention to several taxonomic issues with the L. nigromaculatus group that need to be solved.

Knowledge of home range is essential to understand the processes that govern space and social organization in animals. We analyzed the historical development of studies of lizard home range in South America in order to evaluate the extent of accumulated knowledge on this subject and to diagnose spatial patterns in the studied species. We found that the studies on home range of South American lizards are scarce, totaling only 18 publications. Furthermore, the accumulated information is both phylogenetically and geographically restricted, with the majority of studies focusing on species of Iguania and having been carried out in northwestern Argentina and southeastern Brazil. We conclude that the limitations of current knowledge impede the evaluation of patterns of space use for South American lizards. Based on this scenario, we provided a basic guideline to improve data gathering and analysis for future studies on home range of lizards from South America.

A central issue for ecologists is to understand the variables that determine species distribution. Many studies have suggested that environmental variables are the main factors that shape anuran communities. Nevertheless, several natural environments have not been assessed with ecological studies of this nature, including specific ecosystems of the South American Cerrado morphoclimatic domain. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between environmental variables and the spatial distribution of anurans in ecosystems of semi-deciduous and riparian forests in a transitional region between the Cerrado and Caatinga environments in the western Bahia state, Brazil. We collected fauna and environmental variables data in 10 sampling units during two rainy periods. The original information on species composition and abundance in the community was reduced to a single axis using a non-metric multidimensional scaling method (NMDS) and environmental data were reduced to two main factors using a principal component analysis (PCA). We tested the absence of an association between the structural variation of the environment and spatial distribution of the anuran community using a multiple regression analysis. The anuran community was ordered following a gradient of dry semi-deciduous seasonal areas toward riparian forest with areas of direct insolation and lentic water bodies. Among the components extracted by the PCA, only PC1 was associated with anuran community composition, explaining 69% of the ordination obtained by the NMDS according to variables related to the presence of water bodies. The great contribution of water bodies appears to reflect the degree of modification of the landscape in the region and seasonal restrictions in the availability of water, with both aspects increasing the expected influence of water bodies on the distribution of anurans in the western Bahia state. Future investigations exploring the structure of anurofauna during dry seasons could extend and complement the results provided by this study.

We describe a new species of Liolaemus of the L. alticolor-bibronii group of the subgenus Liolaemus sensu stricto. Liolaemus bibronii has a large geographic distribution; however, preliminary studies suggest that it comprises a species complex. The new species is phenetically similar to L. bibronii and was confused with this taxon for many years. Nevertheless, the new species presents a combination of character states that clearly differentiate it. Also, the new taxon is distributed far from L. bibronii type locality (ca. 1,600 km). It differs from other species of Liolaemus in presenting a unique color pattern and a combination of morphological character states from lepidosis and morphometry. The new species inhabits pre-Andean localities in Uspallata, Las Heras department, northwest Mendoza Province, and is an insectivorous and oviparous species. With the description of this new taxon, the number of species of the L. alticolor-bibronii group rises to 30, but many populations still remain undescribed.

We report the undescribed advertisement calls of Diasporus gularis and D. tinker from the Colombian Pacific region. The call of D. gularis is a “whistle” consisting of a tonal note with four harmonics emitted at a frequency range from 2.6 kHz (frequency 5%) to 3.0 kHz (frequency 95%) and a peak frequency of 2.8 kHz. The call of D. tinker is a “tink,” has a single peaked note with two harmonics, a frequency range from 3.2 kHz (frequency 5%) to 3.6 kHz (frequency 95%), and a peak frequency of 3.4 kHz. According to the call traits reported within the genus Diasporus, we propose that D. gularis and D. tinker are acoustically more similar to D. citrinobapheus and D. anthrax, respectively. However, due to the lack of a complete phylogenetic tree for this clade, we cannot hypothesize if the call similarities between these species owe to a close phylogenetic relationship or convergent evolution in similar habitats.

Leposoma percarinatum is one of the two recognized parthenogenetic species in the lizard family Gymnophthalmidae, and only females have been reported to date. Here we report and describe the first known males attributed to the species from two localities of northwestern Amazonia. We compare the morphological variation (15 meristic and 10 discrete characters, all relevant to species identification in Leposoma) of males and females from these populations with that of specimens from unisexual populations to test the hypothesis that they belong to the same species. We did not find significant morphological differences between unisexual and bisexual populations, except for those associated with sexual dimorphism. Additionally, we reviewed literature dealing with the origin of parthenogenesis in L. percarinatum and we provide some insights into this subject, in view of the discovery of males in this species.

Segregation of habitat resources is an important mechanism that allows the coexistence of species. The diet is an important and dynamic component that can generate interactions among co-existing species. Differences in food resource use between related sympatric species have been associated frequently with divergence in multiple phenotypic traits; hence, it is interesting to explore how phenotypic differences allow sympatric species to minimize niche overlap. We aimed to evaluate trophic niche segregation between Tupinambis merianae and T. rufescens in relation to life history traits in a sympatric zone. We compared the volume of the stomach food items between species considering sexual dimorphism, body size classes, sexual maturity and reproductive activity. The obtained Morisita's index indicated trophic niche overlap between T. merianae and T. rufescens; however, considering particular food items, we observed differences in diet composition. Moreover, our results indicate that body size, sexual maturity and reproductive activity are relevant factors influencing the diet of these species. Life history traits of these two species of Tupinambis are important because they shape diet composition, contributing to interspecific segregation of the trophic niche and, therefore, allowing species coexistence.