The advertisement call of hyla atlantica Caramaschi & Velosa, 1996, with considerations on its taxonomic status (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

Abstract

The advertisement call of Hyla atlantica is described upon specimens from the Municipality of Ituberá, Bahia, Brazil. The call comprises four to eight notes. Call duration 0.19-0.44s, and note duration 12-22.37ms. Two spectral bandwidths (harmonics) are distinct. The lowest-pitched harmonic ranges from 0.68-1.90kHz, and the highest from 2-3.68kHz. Overall dominant frequencies 0.84-1.28kHz (fundamental frequency), with exception of four calls (3.25%) in which values reached 2.18-2.53 kHz. Comparisons of the advertisement calls of H. atlantica and H. punctata resulted in two different suppositions in respect to the taxonomic status of the former. The overall analysis of the literature indicated that the calls of H. atlantica and H. punctata from Manaus (Amazonas, Brazil), Santa Cecilia (Ecuador), and Puerto Almacén (Bolivia) are similar, which does not support H. atlantica as a valid species. In a complementary analysis, using recordings of the call of H. punctata available on commercial digital media from Bolivia and French Guiana, and another from Maranhão (Brazil), significant differences between the calls of H. atlantica and H. punctata were obtained, which lead to the conclusion that may exist at least three distinct species involved: H. atlantica from Bahia (Brazil); H. punctata from northern South America (Manaus/Amazonas and Maranhão, Brazil; Ecuador; French Guiana; Suriname); and a third species from Bolivia (type locality of H. p. rubrolineata), Acre (Brazil), and Chacoan Argentina. The latter hypothesis is more congruent with the geographic distribution of the samples analyzed, and also with the current taxonomic positions of the taxa involved