Rhinella do grupo crucifer (Anura: Bufonidae) no Estado do Rio de Janeiro: distribuição geográfica e taxonomia

Abstract

Recent collection of specimens of Rhinella of the crucifer group in the State of Rio de Janeiro indicated the existence of more than one species belonging to this group in the state, although a recent revision indicated that only one species would occur. A reexamination of the geographic distribution of the species in the group R. crucifer in the State of Rio de Janeiro, based on material deposited in zoological collections is presented. The presence of two species is confirmed, one restricted to lowland coastal areas of the State (R. ornata), the other (R. crucifer) occurs in areas along the drainage basin of the Paraíba do Sul river. The study of this material permitted reassessing and reinterpreting some of the localities visited by Spix when in Rio de Janeiro between 1817 1820 when he collected the material used for the description of Bufo ornatus, B. spixii, and B. dorsalis, based on this reexamination, it was possible to reallocate B. spixii and B. dorsalis to the synonymy of Rhinella crucifer.