We describe the advertisement call of the “tink” frog Diasporus anthrax, an endemic species to the low-mid elevations from the Magdalena river valley in northern Colombia. We also conducted a comparative analysis including data from other species within the genus (D. diastema, D. ventrimaculatus, and D. citrinobapheaus). The advertisement call D. anthrax presents the highest dominant frequency with a shorter duration among all the published Diasporus calls. Diasporus anthrax is rare in museum collections, indicating low detectability in field visual surveys. In contrast, advertisement call surveys suggest high abundance in forest fragments along the Magdalena river valley. Therefore, this species represents a good model to establish bioacoustic monitoring strategies to detect population trends in these highly disturbed ecosystems.

A new sphaerodactylid gecko of the genus Gonatodes is described from La Blanquilla Island, located 170 km north of the Venezuelan mainland. This new species exhibits the following suite of characters that immediately separate it from other taxa in the genus: vertically elliptic pupil, small size, uniformly reddish brown, non-sexually dimorphic coloration, and a subcaudal scale pattern type C (1′1″). The new species is the fourth Gonatodes endemic to Caribbean islands, the other three being G. antillensis (Bonaire, Curaçao, the archipelagos of Las Aves and Los Roques), G. daudini (Union Island, The Grenadines), and G. ocellatus (Tobago). Finally, we discuss the close phylogenetic relationship (based on nuclear genes c-mos and NT3) between the new species and Gonatodes daudini, as well as its zoogeographical implications, showing interesting parallels with that of other Caribbean lizards.

In the Bolivian Chaco, the tortoise Chelonoidis carbonaria is an important reptile for indigenous people for subsistence purposes and in traditional medicine. This article describes research on seasonal activity, daily activity, and burrow use for the species at two long-term research camps in the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park. The principal research method is the use of internal and external temperature dataloggers in 15 individuals over a two-year period. Tortoises reduce their activity in the dry season, and are not active when air temperatures are below 20^°C or above 37°C, though they can be active outside burrows at any time of year. Body temperature varies from 4°C in winter (monthly average of minimum daily temperatures) to 38°C in summer (monthly average of maximum daily temperatures). The instantaneous difference between body and environmental temperature could be as great as -23°C or 12^°C, but the monthly average was between -2°C and 4°C. Tortoises rely principally on shelters including fallen trees, dense bromeliad ground cover, and leaf mulch; but also use armadillo burrows and rock crevices. They use multiple shelters / burrows over time, occasionally sharing shelters with other individuals. Burrow use is important both in cold periods as well as in hot and dry periods. The dataloggers provided extremely detailed data on body and environmental temperature, but the implantation caused problems in several individuals and the procedure may need modifications.

The frog Anomaloglossus roraima was originally described as Colostethus roraima by E. La Marca in 1998 on the basis of a single immature female collected at 2700 m elevation on the upper slopes of Mount Roraima, a tepui (table mountain) located in southeastern Venezuela. We herein provide a redescription of the species on the basis of new material from Wei-Assipu-tepui and Maringma-tepui in Guyana. The redescription includes the first descriptions of the tadpole and vocalization. Anomaloglossus roraima is a small-sized species mainly distinguished from its known congeners in having Finger I < II; fingers with narrow pre- and postaxial unfolded fringes; toes unwebbed (although rudimentary webbing is sometimes present between Toe III and IV) with narrow pre- and postaxial unfolded fringes; symmetrical cloacal tubercles present; dorsolateral stripe usually present, often inconspicuous; ventrolateral stripe absent; oblique lateral stripe absent; no obvious sexual dichromatism in throat, chest and ventral color patterns. The tadpole is large, black, exotrophic, arboreal, LTRF 2(2)/3. The advertisement call consists of a single note repeated at a rate of 8.5–17 notes/min with a dominant frequency ranging from 4107 to 4362 Hz. The species is restricted to a small area in the Eastern Tepui Chain in southeastern Venezuela and western Guyana and mainly inhabits large bromeliads in tepui scrub and high-tepui meadows at elevations between 1860–2700 m above sea level. The discovery on different tepui summits and upper slopes of a species previously reported as having a highly restricted range is important for the understanding of the biogeography of the Pantepui region.

The advertisement calls of Chiasmocleis cordeiroi and C. crucis are described for populations from the municipalities of Igrapiúna and Camacan, respectively, state of Bahia, Brazil. Both calls consist of multipulsed notes produced in series. Differences between the two calls are: dominant frequency, higher in C. cordeiroi (range 4500–4898 Hz; C. crucis range 4069–4435 Hz); note rate, higher in C. cordeiroi (range 6.20–7.46 s/note; C. crucis range 5.17–5.59 s/note); pulse rate, higher in C. cordeiroi (151.82–194.83 s/note; C. crucis range 125.30– 142.12 s/note); and the structure of the modulation patterns of the notes. Moreover, the advertisement calls of C. crucis and C. cordeiroi are more similar than the calls of all syntopic congeners. Furthermore, the current distribution of both species was extended.

Female choice in anurans is usually affected by the characteristics of the conspecific advertisement call. Mating preferences of Eleutherodactylus johnstonei females were tested in two-choice experiments in relation to variation of call duration, dominant frequency and call period. Preferences were tested for variants above and below the population mean. Females showed directional preferences for long calls (always preferred the longest call available), and slightly directional preferences for short periods (preferred short over long periods but did not discriminate between short and mean periods). These results altogether indicated a preference for high calling efforts which was corroborated in an additional experiment testing preferences for short calls repeated at short periods (duty cycle: 0.32) over long calls repeated at long periods (duty cycle: 0.19). Preferences for high calling efforts may relate to male quality in territory defense and/or brood care (developing embryos). Females did not prefer calls based on the dominant frequency. This lack of preference may relate to a weak association between male size and call frequency. Female preferences in E. johnstonei partly match those of the congener E. coqui.

Reflecting their exceptional radiation, snakes occur in different habitats and microhabitats and are able to eat numerous types of prey. The availability of good and comprehensive phylogenies for different snake's lineages together with natural history data provides an opportunity to explore how ecological traits diversified during their radiation. In the present study, we describe the diet and microhabitat variation (arboreal or non-arboreal) in the tribe Pseudoboini and explore how these traits evolved during the tribe's diversification. We analyzed specimens deposited in scientific collections and gathered information on diet and microhabitat use available in the literature and provided by other researchers. We also mapped diet and microhabitat data onto a phylogeny of the tribe using the principle of parsimony. Pseudoboine snakes feed mainly on lizards and small mammals, and of the 22 species for which a minimum number of prey records was obtained, nine are diet generalists, six are lizard specialists, three are small mammal specialists, two are snake specialists, one is a lizard egg specialist, and one is a bird egg specialist. The highly diverse feeding habits of pseudoboines seem to have evolved mainly in the terminal taxa. Among those species that had enough microhabitat data (17 species), Drepanoides anomalus, Siphlophis cervinus, S. compressus, and S. pulcher frequently use the vegetation. Our results indicate that an increase in arboreality evolved several times during the diversification of the tribe, and that the Siphlophis clade seems to have maintained the high degree of arboreality from its ancestor. Species that frequently use vegetation are either lizard or lizard egg specialists, indicating that these habits might be associated in the evolution of pseudoboines.

The tadpole of Phyllomedusa bicolor is redescribed based on 147 individuals from 16 developmental stages collected in three areas of Central Amazonia. We compare them with other tadpoles of the genus found in the Amazon and provide comments on development sites. The tadpole of P. bicolor (stage 36) has a triangular body in lateral view and elongate body in dorsal view. The snout is rounded, the nostrils small and ovoid and the eyes are positioned laterally. Tail length is 61% of total length. The larva has a single, sinistral, almost ventral spiracle. The short vent tube is dextral and attached to the ventral fin. There is a unique cord on the dorsal fin, visible at all stages, originating at body terminus and extending almost to the tip of the tail. The anteroventral oral disc has marginal and submarginal papillae and a labial tooth row formula of 2(2)/3(1) at Gosner stages above 24. Tadpoles inhabit streamside ponds or ponds formed in streams of terra firme forests.