Update on the Geographic Distribution of Three Poorly Known Frog Species in the Mantiqueira Mountain Range
Herpetology Notes, volume 13: 573-577 (2020) (published online on 26 July 2020) Update on the geographic distribution of three poorly known frog species in the Mantiqueira mountain range Edelcio Muscat¹, Daniel Stuginski¹, Ivan Nunes², Itamar Martins³, Guilherme Augusto-Alves4,5, Stenio Eder Vittorazzi6,7, Luís Felipe Toledo4, and Matheus de Toledo Moroti1,8,* In megadiverse countries, such as Brazil, the species the most speciose mountain areas for anurans in South diversity (the Linnean shortfall), as well as their America (Silva et al., 2018). geographical distributions (the Wallacean shortfall), According to estimates, only 11-16% of the Atlantic remain poorly known for most taxa (Bini et al., 2006; Forest’s original coverage remains, composed mainly Andreone et al., 2008). There are more than 650 of small and isolated fragments (Ribeiro et al., 2009; amphibian species in the Atlantic Forest biome (LF Pompeu et al., 2018; Peixoto et al., 2020). In the Toledo, unpublished data). In the Mantiqueira mountain Monte Verde plateau of the Mantiqueira mountains, range alone, 234 species are recorded, corresponding the original vegetation was replaced by grazing land, to nearly ~37.5 % of the amphibians known for the monoculture reforestation and constructions, or has biome (Silva et al., 2018). Of these, 88 species are suffered intense logging (Golfari, 1975). This scenario endemic to this mountain range (Silva et al., 2018). The is even more worrisome as amphibians are considered high diversity and endemism make the Mantiqueira the most threatened vertebrates on the planet (Stuart et mountains a hotspot. They are also considered one of al., 2004). Factors such as fragmentation, habitat loss, climate change, diseases as chytridiomycosis, and the introduction of exotic species are the main causes of this decline (Stuart et al., 2004; Carvalho et al., 2017).
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