Taxonomia das populações aliadas à Adenomera thomei (Amphibia, Anura, Leptodactylidae) ao longo da Floresta Atlântica

Abstract

The genus Adenomera was described by Steindachner in 1867 based on specimens from the Tijuca Massif, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with Adenomera marmorata Steindachner, 1867 designated as the type species. The brief and general diagnosis provided by the author at the time for A. marmorata was insufficient to enable the clear differentiation of closely related populations, which led to incorrect or imprecise identifications of individuals from other populations of the genus in the following years. Over the past five decades, various studies have accumulated a set of phenotypic and genetic characteristics that has helped to elucidate part of the previously unrecognized taxonomic diversity within the genus Adenomera. Currently, the genus is considered monophyletic and comprises 32 valid nominal species, grouped into seven well-supported groups and one well-supported lineage (PP > 0.95), each predominantly associated with a South American biome: lineage Adenomera sp. I, and the groups of A. andreae, A. heyeri, A. hylaedactyla, A. lutzi, A. marmorata, A. martinezi, and A. thomei. In northeastern Brazil, the genus is represented by three groups: ((A. hylaedactyla, A. martinezi), A. thomei). The Adenomera species occurring in the northern Atlantic Forest are poorly known and underrepresented in recent phylogenetic studies. Nevertheless, the thomei group appears to be the most representative, with its eponymous species, A. thomei (Almeida & Angulo, 2006), occurring from northern Espírito Santo state to, possibly, Rio Grande do Norte state. Along this latitudinal gradient, local populations exhibit acoustic variations that suggest the existence of more than one species currently referred to as A. thomei. In the present study, we investigated whether cryptic and previously undescribed species are hidden among the populations treated as A. thomei throughout the Atlantic Forest. We employed an integrative approach encompassing external morphology, linear morphometrics, external surface coloration, advertisement call acoustics, and molecular genetics. Our analyses support the existence of two species currently classified under the name Adenomera thomei, including a previously undescribed species located on the northern coast of the state of Bahia. Adenomera thomei has a distribution restricted to southeastern Brazil.