Tadpole morphology, advertisement call and natural history notes of Ololygon muriciensis (Anura: Hylidae: Scinaxini)

Abstract

Ololygon muriciensis, a rare species of the O. catharinae group, isknown to occur in a single locality in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.Despite its morphological resemblance and close phylogeneticrelationship to O. strigilata, molecular evidence supports them asseparate taxa. This study aims to expand the understanding of O.muriciensis through a description of its larval internal and externalmorphology, advertisement call, and natural history. Our studyreveals that larvae of this species share typical external larval characteristicswith other species of Ololygon. The analysis of the advertisementcall of O. muriciensis reveals a unique note with spectraland temporal structures similar to type A calls or the first note incomplex calls observed in other Ololygon species. Both larvae andcall of O. muriciensis bear resemblance to those of O. strigilata.However, given the taxonomic challenges associated with nontopotypicalpopulations of O. strigilata, further studies focusing onthis species are necessary to clarify the taxonomic status of both O.muriciensis and O. strigilata.