Mário Ribeiro de Moura

Disentangling the Role of Climate, Topography and Vegetation in Species Richness Gradients.

Environmental gradients (EG) related to climate, topography and vegetation are among the most important drivers of broad scale patterns of species richness. However, these different EG do not necessarily drive species richness in similar ways, potentially presenting synergistic associations when driving species richness. Understanding the synergism among EG allows us to address key questions arising from the effects of global climate and land use changes on biodiversity. Herein, we use variation partitioning (also know as commonality analysis) to disentangle unique and shared contributions of different EG in explaining species richness of Neotropical vertebrates. We use three broad sets of predictors to represent the environmental variability in (i) climate (annual mean temperature, temperature annual range, annual precipitation and precipitation range), (ii) topography (mean elevation, range and coefficient of variation of elevation), and (iii) vegetation (land cover diversity, standard deviation and range of forest canopy height). The shared contribution between two types of EG is used to quantify synergistic processes operating among EG, offering new perspectives on the causal relationships driving species richness. To account for spatially structured processes, we use Spatial EigenVector Mapping models. We perform analyses across groups with distinct dispersal abilities (amphibians, non-volant mammals, bats and birds) and discuss the influence of vagility on the partitioning results. Our findings indicate that broad scale patterns of vertebrate richness are mainly affected by the synergism between climate and vegetation, followed by the unique contribution of climate. Climatic factors were relatively more important in explaining species richness of good dispersers. Most of the variation in vegetation that explains vertebrate richness is climatically structured, supporting the productivity hypothesis. Further, the weak synergism between topography and vegetation urges caution when using topographic complexity as a surrogate of habitat (vegetation) heterogeneity.

Reptilia, Gymnophthalmidae, Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lutken, 1861): distribution extension, new state record and geographic distribution map

We provide records for Micrablepharus maximiliani from state of Minas Gerais and present a map representing its distribution. The record of M. maximiliani from municipality of Resplendor, Minas Gerais, represents a distribution extension of 1,050 km southern from the type locality at the municipality of Maruim, Sergipe. Others 57 new records are presented based on specimens housed in several Brazilian and Paraguayan herpetological collections, improving the knowledge on geographic distribution of M. maximiliani in South America.

Rediscovery of Phalotris concolor (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Elapomorphini)

Phalotris concolor Ferrarezzi, 1994 is a poorly known species described on the basis of a single female from municipality of Cristalia, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Based on two recently collected specimens, we expand the knowledge of P. concolor with new morphological data, including the description of its hemipenis and color in life. A summary of comparative data between species of the P. nasutus group is present to aid the identification of new specimens. The new findings are important for a better understanding of the taxonomy of Phalotris.

New records of snakes (Reptilia: Squamata) in Minas Gerais, Brazil

We report new records of three poorly-known species of snakes in Minas Gerais: Bothrops lutzi (Miranda- Ribeiro, 1915), Psomophis joberti (Sauvage, 1884), and Trilepida brasiliensis (Laurent, 1949). The new records represent important filling gaps for all three species or even southern extensions in the geographic distribution of B. lutzi and P. joberti . The new records are located in areas indicated as priority regions for biodiversity conservation in Cerrado. Maps of known records of these snakes are also provided considering literature data and new records from collections.

New records and geographic distribution of Corythomantis greeningi Boulenger, 1896 (Amphibia: Hylidae)

We provide new records of Corythomantis greeningi from southeastern Brazil, extending its southernmost distribution. The new records of C. greeningi are from an area of the Cerrado biome, in the State of Minas Gerais.

First record of Itapotihyla langsdorffii (Duméril and Bibron, 1841) (Amphibia: Hylidae) from a Cerrado region in Minas Gerais state, Brazil

Itapotihyla langsdorffii is widely distributed along the Brazlian Atlantic Forest, however, it presence in Minas Gerais state was restricted to five localities, all of them located within the Atlantic Forest domain. Herein, we present the first record of this species from a Cerrado region in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil.

Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae, Bokermannohyla sazimai (Cardoso and Andrade, 1982): distribution extension and geographic distribution map

We provide a new record for Bokermannohyla sazimai from state of Minas Gerais and present a map representing its distribution. The new record from municipality of Uberlândia represents a distribution extension of 70 km western from the closest locality where it was previously known.

Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae, Scinax centralis Pombal and Bastos, 1996: distribution extension, geographic distribution map

This work provides records of Scinax centralis from municipalities of Campo Alegre de Goias and Orizona, state of Goias, Brazil. Those records represent, respectively, a southeast range extension of ca. 30 Km east and ca. 60 Km southeast from the previously known locality of Ipameri. All known populations of S. centralis remain restricted to the Paranaiba River basin, and with exception of Orizona, all localities from where the species is known to occur are inside priority areas for conservation of biodiversity in Cerrado and Pantanal.

New records of Trachycephalus mambaiensis (Amphibia: Hylidae) from a cerrado region in Minas Gerais state, Brazil

In this article we report two new records of Trachycephalus mambaiensis for the state of Minas Gerais and present a map which represents the known distribution of this species. The record of T. mambaiensis from municipalities of Bonito de Minas and Januaria, state of Minas Gerais represents a distribution extension of 190 km southern from the type locality, at the municipality of Mambai, state of Goias.

Scinax canastrensis (Cardoso and Haddad, 1982) (Anura: Hylidae): new record in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil

We report a new record of Scinax canastrensis from central region of Minas Gerais state. This record represents a range extension of ca. 175 km northeast from the type-locality, at Parque Nacional Serra da Canastra, and the third register of this species in Minas Gerais.