Information on snake assemblages in Brazilian biomes has increased in the last decade. However, detailed studies on snake composition and natural history in urban fragments have never been conducted. The municipality of São Paulo has 150,900 ha and only 16% of forested areas, distributed in small and scattered fragments. Throughout 44 months of sampling, we registered in this municipality 38 snake species belonging to five families. Terrestrial frog-eater species were predominant. The number of recorded snakes was higher during the rainy season. Anual seasonality in captures might be related to prey availability and reproductive cycles. The most abundant species was Oxyrhopus guibei, with 24% of dominance, followed by Sibynomorphus mikanii (21%), and Bothrops jararaca (16%). Three species, Philodryas patagoniensis, Tomodon dorsatus, and Liotyphlops beui, were also common; six others were of intermediate abundance; and 23 were considered rare. Historically, the municipality of São Paulo showed a mosaic of different vegetational physiognomies. Nowadays, despite being fragmented due to the urban growth, these fragmented formations still enclose together a high richness of snake species.

Female Pipa carvalhoi incubate their eggs in the skin of the dorsum where the embryos develop until they emerge. Behavioral and morphological aspects of this reproductive mode were studied through courtship until the tadpoles emerged. Samples of the female skin were collected beginning a few hours after egg deposition and through subsequent phases of larval development and examined using standard histology, histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. The females' dorsal skin structure changes during egg implantation and development. These changes may be mediated by hormones and enzymes in a manner paralleling that of trophoblast implantation in mammal endometrium. The lack of vittelum and the extensive vascularization in the female after the 14^th day of egg implantation suggest interaction through blood between the female and embryos. This hypothesis could be better accessed, if comparisons could be made with similar species such as Pipa pipa and Pipa arrabali, in which the embryos hatch only after metamorphosis. Similar observations have been made for marsupial frogs of the genus Gastrotheca in which some females maintain the embryos in a pouch in the dorsal integument. For P. carvalhoi, at least within populations of the Brazilian semi-arid environment (Caatinga), where bodies of water and rivers are temporary and depend on the short rainy season, this type of reproduction may be important for the rapid dissemination of large numbers of progeny.

A new species of Leposternon is described from the Brazilian Cerrado, Goiás and Minas Gerais states. The known range is restricted to the headwaters of the Paranã and São Francisco drainage systems. The new species has the following diagnostic characters: frontal portion of head strongly depressed, pectoral shield modified, autotomic site absent, 404–448 dorsal and 408–448 ventral postpectoral half-annuli; 14–16 tail annuli; 24–33 and 23–33 dorsal and ventral segments per half-annulus of midbody respectively; 32–53 segments to the fifth tail annulus; two supralabials; three infralabials; two precloacal pores; major infralabials distinct from malar lateral; prefrontals, supraoculars, azygous, frontals and parietals shields distinct; azygous width 29.6–53.2% of posterior head width; frontal length 17.2–24.0% of head length; length of parietals comprising 14.8–25.6% of head length; and diamond-shaped pectoral scales.

The name Herpetodryas reticulata Peters, 1863, is revalidated and assigned to the snakes of the genus Mastigodryas from the dry forests of central and southwestern Ecuador. Mastigodryas reticulatus (Peters, 1863) is characterized by the presence of a striped dorsal pattern, with the upper light lateral stripe formed by two scale rows (4 and 5); dorsal scales with dark apical edges; a light, immaculate throat and venter; a higher number of ventral scales; an elongate and nude region on the base of the hemipenis; and thin, enlarged spines located lateral to the sulcus spermaticus on the distal region of the body of the hemipenis. This species is a member of the M. boddaerti Group, along with M. boddaerti and M. heathii.

Many research questions require the recognition and permanent identification of individual organisms. The use of photography for this identification from their natural marks is a non-invasive technique that can be applied to species with variable color patterns. The goals of this study were to describe the method of photographic identification by natural marks of individuals of Scinax longilineus and to test the feasibility of implementing this method in field research. Fieldwork was conducted in April, May, and August 2006, April 2007 and May 2008. Individuals were collected, photographed, and released at the same location, except for two pairs that were taken to the laboratory and preserved after identification experiments. In the laboratory, observers were selected to compare the photographs, which were organized in a database, with live animals in order to test the ease and accuracy of recognition of individuals from natural marks. Twenty-four males and 44 females were photographed, generating a database of 156 photographs. Tests conducted with observers had a high percentage of correct answers (93.75% for tests with photographs and 92.5% for tests with live animals) and no difference between the efficacy of the two identification methods was detected.

Morphological diversification in island anoles follows different patterns in the Greater and Lesser Antilles, respectively. Most Greater Antillean anoles are grouped within six ecomorph classes according to habitat use: crown giant, trunk-crown, trunk, trunk-ground, grass-bush and twig. In contrast, most species from the Lesser Antilles cannot be assigned to these ecomorphs (two-species island anoles) or are similar only to the trunk-crown ecomorph (solitary species or single-species island anoles). Anolis concolor (San Andres island) and A. pinchoti (Providentia, Santa Catalina and Crab Cay islands) are sister endemic taxa. We characterized the morphology of these species in order to compare them to other island anoles previously assigned to Greater Antillean ecomorphs. Neither, A. concolor nor A. pinchoti was fully assigned to these ecomorphs. However, A. concolor is similar to both trunk-crown and trunk-ground ecomorphs, while A. pinchoti resembles trunk-ground species. It seems that some ecological traits, such as perch height — lamellae number relationship, also suggest that A. concolor is intermediate between trunk-crown and trunk-ground ecomorphs. Thus we conclude that only A. concolor is similar to other solitary island species. Environmental and topographic variation among islands, as well as differences in colonization times might explain the pattern observed in these species with respect to other solitary species.

Anuran vocalization is species-specific and bioacoustic analyses are important tools for species delimitation. The present study describes the vocalization of Sphaenorhynchus mirim, recognizing two different types of call, here referred to as call type A and call type B. We analyzed a total of 86 calls of type A and 15 calls of type B. Call type A consists of a single multipulsed note with duration of 34.12–101.00 ms, with 9–25 pulses/note, pulse rate ranges from 240.40–338.21 pulses/sec and the dominant frequency is between 3085.51–3398.86 Hz. We arbitrarily subdivided the type B call into two patterns: Bd (with well-defined notes) and Bnd (with non-defined notes). Call type B with well-defined notes (n = 4) has 3–5 multipulsed notes, duration of 180.12–262.68 ms, note duration of 15.62–100.75 ms, interval between notes with 7.93–23.12 ms, 2–22 pulses/note and dominant frequency of 3067.77–3180.11 Hz. Call type B with non-defined notes (n = 11) has duration of 143.75–-218.12 ms; 26–32 pulses/ call and a dominant frequency of 3180.11–3375.22 Hz. Sphaenorhynchus mirim vocalization differs from all other species in the genus by its higher dominant frequency.

Population dynamics of the lizard Tropidurus torquatus was studied between May 2008 and June 2009 in a rocky formation in Alegrete municipality, Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil. The study was carried out using the capture, marking and recapture method, the area being randomly searched from 08:00 am to 6:00 pm. Tropidurus torquatus presented variation in population structure throughout the study period, with maximum biomass observed in October 2008 and maximum density occurring in November 2008 (reproductive season), both having a second peak in March 2009 (recruitment period). There was a significant difference between the number of juveniles and adults recorded, since adults were present throughout the study period while juveniles were present in the months after recruitment. The difference found between males and females may be related to a social territorial behavior of the males. The population of Tropidurus torquatus presented a cyclic and seasonal variation in population structure, possibly associated with the reproductive cycle of the species, with differences in the distribution of age classes and sexual proportions throughout the year.

In this study we describe the tadpoles of Chiasmocleis shudikarensis based on 37 individuals and 14 development stages. The tadpole of C. shudikarensis is characterized by small size (15.6 mm total length in stage 36), body rectangular in dorsal view, oval in lateral view; eyes lateral; nostrils absent; tail triangular, gradually diminishing to a pointed tip; spiracle long and wide, its distal border projecting over the anal tube and with finger-shaped projections; mouth small and terminal with marginal papillae and jaw sheaths absent; upper lip narrow, fleshy, covering the oral opening; lower lip narrow with a U-shaped medial notch. We also provide comments on spawning sites and breeding period.

The tadpole of Physalaemus angrensis Weber, Gonzaga and Carvalho-e-Silva, 2005 is described based on tadpoles reared in captivity from a pair collected in a temporary pond in Angra dos Reis Municipality, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The species belongs to the Physalaemus signifier group and shares many external characteristics with other members of this group, like the labial tooth row formula 2(2)/3(1) and the ovoid body. The internal oral morphology is also described and compared with other tadpoles of the genus.

Because anurans are highly dependent on water for hydroregulation and respiration, they may use microhabitats that are in proximity to standing water preferentially to other microhabitats, especially during dry periods. We examined the anuran assemblage of Sachavacayoc, Peru during the dry season to test if lake proximity, distance to trees, temperature, and humidity influenced anuran abundance and diversity in the leaf litter of a rainforest habitat. We conducted quadrat searches of paired plots at the shore of a lake and 25 m distant from the lake's shore. Both overall abundance of anurans and abundance of the most common species, Leptodactylus andreae, a terrestrial breeding species, were significantly higher in the lakeshore quadrats. Temperatures at capture sites in the shore quadrats were significantly higher; frogs were significantly closer to trees in the away-from-water quadrats. Humidities at points of capture did not differ significantly with quadrat position. For eight of the 14 species captured, more individuals were found in shore quadrats than inland quadrats, which supports our hypothesis. Likewise, L. andreae was more abundant at the lake's shore, even though previous studies have not recorded this species utilizing lakeshore habitats. The extreme lack of rain experienced immediately preceding and during the study may have caused the frogs, including L. andreae, to shift their microhabitats to a more humid area to prevent dehydration. Additional studies that examine the fine scale spacing in relation to large water bodies will shed more light on this phenomenon.