Range extension and upated distribution of Hypsiboas pardalis (Spix, 1824) (Anura, Hylidae)

treefrog which inhabits open areas and the border of Atlantic Forest fragments of Southeastern Brazil. It also occurs along gallery forests from sea level up to 1000 m a.s. l. (Nascimento et al., 2004). Currently, molecular, morphological, and behavioral evidences support this species in the Hypsiboas faber species group (e.g. Cochran, 1955; Caramaschi and Napoli, 2004; Faivovich et al., 2005). At present, this group consists of eight species (sensu Faivovich et al., 2005) that are distributed throughout South America: Hypsiboas albomarginatus (Spix, 1824), Hypsiboas crepitans (Wied-Neuwied, 1824), Hypsiboas exastis (Caramaschi and Rodrigues, 2003), Hypsiboas faber (Wied-Neuwied, 1821), Hypsiboas lundii (Burmeister, 1856), Hypsiboas pardalis, Hypsiboas pugnax (Schmidt, 1857), and Hypsiboas rosenbergi (Boulenger, 1898). The type locality of Hypsiboas pardalis is in the State of Rio de Janeiro (Spix, 1824), based on two syntypes, which were declared lost (Hoogmoed and Gruber, 1983). Caramaschi and Napoli (2004), based on notes published by Vanzolini (1981), Lutz (1973), and Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva (2001), restricted the type locality of H. pardalis to “Fazenda Mandioca” (approximately 22°35’ S, 43°11’ W), in the vicinities of Santo Aleixo, Municipality of Magé, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Herein, we examined specimens of H. pardalis preserved in herpetological collections, provide a geographical map and discuss on its current distribution. Like other species of the Hypsiboas faber group, H. pardalis is also known as gladiator-frog in view of its extremely pugnacious behavior and the welldeveloped prepollical spines that males use in fighting behaviors (Kluge, 1979). Nevertheless, Faivovich et al. (2005) preferred to use the term gladiator-frogs to refer collectively to the mostly South American species that have a prepollical spine, since other groups contain species with similar morphological and behavioral characteristics. Hypsiboas pardalis usually lays eggs in footsteps of cow’s hooves (Bokermann, 1968) and, eventually, in tank-bromeliads Alcantarea extensa (L.B. Smith) J.R. Grant (Moura et al., 2011). In general, males of the H. faber group are conspicuous due to the construction of nests in mud, but it is also known that males of H. pardalis can take advantage of small concavities in the soil and use them for nesting (Bokermann, 1968). In order to better understand the geographic distribution of Hypsiboas pardalis, we examined 243 preserved specimens from the following collections: MNRJ (Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro), MZUSP (Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo), MBML (Museu de Biologia Prof. Mello Leitão, Santa Teresa), ZUEC (Museu de História Natural, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas), UFES (Coleção Herpetológica, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória) (see Appendix 1 for examined material). We conducted direct comparisons with preserved specimens and diagnosed them using specific characters of Hypsiboas pardalis contained in Caramaschi and Napoli (2004), as follow: the rough aspect of the dorsal skin; presence of developed dermal ridges on arms; hands fully webbed; presence of calcar appendix, cloacal flap, and cloacal lichenous plate. Those characters promptly distinguish H. pardalis from the most similar species H. crepitans, H. lundii, and H. pugnax. Dorsal roughness, dermal ridges, calcars, and cloacal flap are poorly developed in H. lundii and absent in H. crepitans; in H. pugnax the cloacal plate is absent. Furthermore, hand and feet are less webbed in those three species. Herpetology Notes, volume 7: 791-795 (2014) (published online on 23 December 2014)