Anurans of Serra Negra da Mantiqueira, Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, Brazil: a priority area for biodiversity conservation

Amphibians are identified as the group that presents the largest decline in recent years and fauna inventories are primary to map conservation strategies. The Serra Negra da Mantiqueira, which belongs to the complex of Serra da Mantiqueira and it is part of the Mantiqueira’s Ecological Corridor, has high species diversity and is identified as a priority area for biological conservation. We present the first systematic anurofauna inventory for Serra Negra da Mantiqueira, in municipalities of Rio Preto, Santa Barbara do Monte Verde, Olaria and Lima Duarte, located in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais. We conducted 12 collections during two rainy seasons, from October 2013 to March 2014 and from October 2014 to March 2015. Were inventoried 13 sampling site through night active search over five days in each month. The anurofauna of Serra Negra presented 48 species in ten families, Hylidae family being the richest (24 species), followed by Leptodactylidae family (eight species). Some species were not identified to species level because they are confused taxonomically groups or because they have few specimens collected. This study reveals a high richness of anuran species of the Serra Negra da Mantiqueira which shows more representative than anurofauna adjacent regions such as the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca and the city of Juiz de Fora. In addition, we recorded two endemic species, Hylodes perere and Hypsiboas cambui . Therefore, these result shows the great importance of the Serra Negra da Mantiqueira to the conservation of regional anurofauna, highlighting how high biodiversity area also for frogs.