We studied the diet of the subtropical Lygophis anomalus through the analysis of 444 museum specimens collected along all its geographical range. Analysis of the stomach contents of specimens from all its distribution range indicate that this species feeds primarily on anurans, consuming reptiles like occasional items. Most of stomachs presented only one item, while only 14 snakes (16.87%) presented 2–7 items. Prey total length was 4–34% of the snout—vent length of the snakes. Prior to swallowing, the amphibians were usually oriented and ingested from the anterior portion of the body, but no significant relationship was found between volumes or total length of ingested prey and the direction of ingestion. We did not find sexual dimorphism in head length, and diet composition did not vary between sexes. These results and the absence of a significant relationship between snake and prey size suggests that L. anomalus is an opportunistic species that preys on several environments. Its feeding activity seems to depend more on the season that on the day/night cycle.

Vitreorana uranoscopa inhabits small or medium-sized streams with rocky bottoms of the Interior Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and likely southeastern Paraguay. Most of the available information originates from Brazilian populations. Only a few populations from Argentina have been reported and information about their natural history is almost unknown. This work re-describes the advertisement call of V. uranoscopa from a new population discovered in the province of Misiones, Argentina, and includes further data about its reproduction, population density and habitat conservation status. On the basis of 11 recorded males, two call types were recorded. Results showed that the typical advertisement call is formed by pulsed notes released singly, in groups, or in combinations of both at an average rate of 13.86 notes/min. Notes lasted 0.013–0.085 s and had 1–5 well-defined pulses lasting 0.003–0.015 s; the pulse repetition rate was 90.9–166.66 pulses/s. The peak of dominant frequency was 4,312.5–4,875.0 Hz with a slight, ascending frequency modulation. These data agree with those reported in previous studies, although some differences in the note duration, intercall interval, number of pulses and harmonics were identified. These differences might be due to either the technological limitations at the time of those studies or interpopulation variation. The second call type (reported for the first time in V. uranoscopa) is formed by 1–2 additional pulses at the beginning of some notes and has lower amplitude than typical calls, but the social context of its emission is still unknown. The calling males perched on the leaves of the marginal vegetation, either alone or occasionally in groups of 2–3 individuals, with a average of 5.5 individuals per 100 m transect. Clutches containing up to 36 eggs or embryos were found on the upper surface of fern fronds. In Argentina, V. uranoscopa occurs only in Araucaria forests of the Interior Atlantic Forest. Thus, the protection of streams with abundant marginal vegetation seems to be essential for the conservation of this species.

The frogs of the family Ceratophryidae (comprised of three genera containing 12 species) are well known for their voracious feeding behavior and unique morphologies in both larval and post-metamorphic life stages. Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the diet of these species, especially in nature. We summarized the current knowledge of the diet of larval and post-metamorphic ceratophryids in both natural and experimental settings by conducting a literature review, specimen dissections, and field observations. Prior to this study, diet information did not exist for one fourth of the species in the family: Ceratophrys calcarata, Ceratophrys joazeirensis Ceratophrys stolzmanni, and Ceratophrys testudo. We add, for the first time, information on the diet of Ceratophrys calcarata. In addition, our survey revealed that relatively few detailed studies with large sample sizes have been conducted on the diet of these frogs. Frequently, knowledge of the diet of a species is derived from palatability experiments using captive individuals (often a single individual). From those diet studies that were conducted under natural conditions, ceratophryids can be classified as generalist, opportunistic predators, often preying on a wide variety of invertebrate and vertebrate prey. All species of ceratophryids for which we obtained information on diet were found to consume vertebrates, with anuran prey occurring in nearly all species. Even less is known about the diet of the tadpoles of these species; while cannibalism is assumed to be widespread, we found evidence for cannibalism at the larval stage in only three species. Future studies should attempt to understand the trophic ecology of these species under natural scenarios at both life stages, and an ontogenetic approach using individuals across multiple size classes could elucidate the niche shifts associated with these species from larva to adult.

Space and time are two of the main dimensions of the ecological niche. Because of their high dependence upon aquatic environments during breeding activity, anuran assemblages are interesting models for studying inter-populational relationships. The overlap in habitat use could be particularly high, especially for seasonal species and among taxa that share a common phylogenetic history. Three species of the Leptodactylus fuscus group occur in a semi-permanent pond at Cerro Verde (Rocha, Uruguay): L. latinasus, L. mystacinus and L. gracilis. The aim of this work was to describe the spatial and temporal calling patterns of the three species and the effects of environmental conditions upon them on a daily scale. Their relative abundance was quantified over four weeks (December 2004–January 2005) during the first half of the night along a transect using acoustic surveys. Nestedness, segregation, Jaccard's index and association analysis were calculated, revealing a nested pattern with low overlap between species in the occupation of microhabitats. On the temporal axis, the calling behavior of the species seems to be better described by the time of night than by temperature, humidity, or atmospheric pressure. These analyses also showed a non-linear association of activity with time of night, indicating that higher activity occurs at different hours for each species.

The hemipenial morphology of nine species in Ninia is described for the first time. A total of 65 hemipenes of all recognized species of Ninia were examined. As a result of the evaluation of the hemipenial and caudal morphology, Ninia diademata labiosa is elevated to full species status and a new species is described from 240 m above sea level in the Northern Range of Trinidad. The new species exhibits several diagnostic features, including (1) a primary temporal scale that is extremely long and contacts the upper labial scales 5–7; (2) a temporal scale formula 1 2, with the primary temporal scale three times longer than the lower posterior temporal; and (3) forked hemipenes. The male genitalia of Ninia are excellent indicators of species limits and an effective tool to clarify the identity of cryptic species in the genus.

Anolis heterodermus is a poorly known, high elevation anole lizard from northern Andes, currently under threat due to habitat destruction. Although it has been suggested that this taxon corresponds to a species complex, different evolutionary lineages have not been identified. We examined phylogenetic relationships between individuals of A. heterodermus from the Eastern and Central Cordilleras of Colombia and other species of the A. heterodermus series using mitochondrial DNA (partial ND2 gene with adjacent tRNA genes and partial COI gene) and nuclear DNA (partial RAG1 gene) sequences and assessed divergence times between these lineages to elucidate their historical biogeography. We performed genetic analyses for two populations from the middle portion of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia based on the COI gene. We identified three independently evolving evolutionary lineages within A. heterodermus based on two lines of evidence: (i) all phylogenetic analyses showed A. heterodermus to comprise three strongly supported subgroups, being polyphyletic with respect to other recognized species of the A. heterodermus series and (ii) the uncorrected p-distances of the ND2 gene revealed that the divergence between A. heterodermus lineages exceed the divergence between recognized species of the A. heterodermus series. These lineages should be considered as different evolutionary significant units (ESUs) and candidate species. We found that the diversification of the studied lineages dates to the Middle Miocene to Pleistocene, falling within a period of major orogenic and climatic events in northern South America. The population genetic analyses revealed two management units (MUs) in one of the newly reported lineages from the middle portion of the Eastern Cordillera. Due to the accelerated destruction of their natural habitat, steps should be taken to ensure the conservation of the identified ESUs and MUs.

The gonadal and fat body cycles and their relationship to environmental factors are described for the Antillean frog Eleutherodactylus planirostris during a seasonal cycle in Havana, Cuba. Reproduction was discontinuous in both sexes. Bimodal vitellogenesis was observed from April—October. The first vitellogenic wave occurred April—June. In August an ovarian weight downgrade was observed due to oviposition. The second wave was September—October. Spermatogenesis started in March, with a high spermatogenic activity during June and July, and ended in November. In both sexes, fat bodies varied seasonally and showed an inverse relationship to the gonadal cycle, which supports its possible role as an energetic reserve for reproduction. Temperature was the environmental factor that significantly influenced the vitellogenic activity. Photoperiod was inversely related to fat bodies of both sexes.

We analyzed museum specimens from two regions of Guatemala for the presence of the pathogenic amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) using both histological and PCR-based assays. We determined that the pathogen was present at one site at low prevalence in 1980 and 1981, immediately preceding drastic declines of amphibian in the region by 1983. This pattern is consistent with pathogen-driven declines of amphibians in other regions of Central America, suggesting that Bd was the primary cause of amphibian declines in the Sierra de las Minas of east-central Guatemala.

The island of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) is home to four endemic species of treefrogs: Hypsiboas heilprini, Osteopilus dominicensis, O. pulchrilineatus and O. vastus. These species occur sympatrically over large areas below 1,850 m elevation and are commonly encountered together. We redescribe the external larval morphology of O. dominicensis, O. vastus, and Hybsiboas heilprini, and describe the tadpole of O. pulchrilineatus for the first time based on laboratory-reared specimens representing stages from early—late metamorphosis. Some tadpoles were raised to adults in order to confirm species identity. We document intraspecific variation in labial tooth-rows formulas, report ontogenetic changes in coloration, compare tadpoles of related species, and provide an identification key to the hylid tadpoles of Hispaniola. Hispaniolan hylid tadpoles inhabit fast-running streams or pools. Whereas the lotic larvae of O. vastus and H. heilprini exhibit characteristics commonly associated with flowing water (robust body with strong tail musculature, small to medium fins, relatively enlarged oral disc, increased number of labial tooth rows, and complete marginal papillae), the lentic tadpoles of O. dominicensis and O. pulchrilineatus are characterized by morphological adaptations to ponds (medium-sized body and tail musculature, high fins, small oral disc, fewer number of labial tooth rows and incomplete marginal papillae). Consequently, the tadpole of O. vastus is more similar to that of H. heilprini than it is to its congeners.