Amphibia, Anura, São Desidério, western Bahia uplands, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The contact zone between Cerrado and Caatinga is among the least known areas in the Cerrado biome, and no information is available about the anuran species occurring in this area and their ecology. Along this area, seasonally dry tropical forests are common on the lowlands with some enclaves inside the Cerrado core area. Here, we present for the first time a list of species on this zone recognized as a priority area for conservation inside the Cerrado. We sampled anuran species within 30 km of São Desidério, a city in western Bahia, from habitats including temporary and permanent ponds in Cerrado and seasonally dry tropical forests, as well as veredas and marshes. We recorded 32 anuran species, belonging to 12 genera in five families. Hylidae was the richest family (ten species) followed by Leiuperidae and Leptodactylidae (eight species each), Bufonidae (five species), and Microhylidae (two species). The heterogeneity of this site could be demonstrated by the presence of species with different dispersal/colonization history with eight species (25 %) endemic to Cerrado, three (9 %) shared with Caatinga biome, two (6 %) shared with Atlantic Forest, and eighteen (56 %) widespread through adjacent biomes.