Description of a puzzling new long-legged Pseudopaludicola Miranda-Ribeiro 1926 species (Anura, Leptodactylidae) from the Araguaia river floodplain, Brazil

Abstract

Twenty-six species are currently assigned to the genus Pseudopaludicola. One of the most conspicuous lineages within this genus corresponds to the long-legged Pseudopaludicola saltica species group, where the three species, Pseudopaludicola jaredi, Pseudopaludicola murundu, and P. saltica, have tibiotarsal articulation extending beyond the tip of the snout. Here, we describe a fourth species belonging to the P. saltica group based on morphologic, molecular, and acoustic evidence. The new species can be distinguished from the other species assigned to the P. saltica group by a yellowish vocal sac in life (grayish vocal sac in P. jaredi and P. murundu and whitish vocal sac in P. saltica). The new species also emits a unique advertisement call compared to other species of the P. saltica group, resembling the rhythm of a galloping horse. This pattern, however, is remarkably similar to that of the distantly related Pseudopaludicola pocoto, suggesting independent evolution in these two species. The new species is described from a single locality in western Tocantins state, Marianópolis municipality (Brazil), in the Araguaia River floodplain. The new taxon described here is the sixth species of Pseudopaludicola known from the Tocantins.