A new species allied to hyla circumdata (anura: hylidae) from Serra da Mantiqueira, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Hyla circumdata (Cope, 1870) occurs in subtropical and tropical rain forests, distributed over mountain ranges of the Brazilian Plateau, mainly in the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira ranges. Samples of the northern sector of Serra da Mantiqueira revealed distinctive characters when compared to samples from the southern sectors of Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar, which suggest that the former is a new species. The new species is characterized mainly by large size (snout–vent length 57.5–70.0 mm in males; 55.3–67.2 mm in females), absence of vocal slits in adult males, and a large tympanum.