The occurrence of Fritziana Mello-Leitão , 1937 ( Anura , Hemiphractidae ) in Minas Gerais state , southeastern Brazil : new records and distribution of the genus

Fritziana is currently composed by four species known from mountain regions in the Brazilian states of Espírito Santo, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo. Based on field records, literature, and data gathered from collections, we present new records and a distribution map for the species of the genus. Fritziana is now recorded for seven Brazilian states, including five localities in Minas Gerais. We also confirm Fritziana goeldii (Boulenger 1895) in the same state. The genus distribution now ranges in the southern Espinhaço mountain range, extending in 215 km from the previously known locality.

The species of the genus Fritziana Mello-Leitão, 1937 are commonly known as marsupial frogs due to their reproductive habits in which females carry their eggs on their backs, between dermal folds, which can form a closed pouch or an open basin.Subsequently, the female releases the tadpoles in water accumulated inside bromeliads or bamboos (Duellman and Gray 1983;Weygoldt and Carvalho-e-Silva 1991;Haddad and Prado 2005;Duellman et al. 2011).Currently, four species are recognized in the genus: F. fissilis (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920), F. goeldii (Boulenger, 1895), F. ohausi (Wandolleck, 1907), and the recently revalidated F. ulei (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926).However, the diversity within Fritziana is considered underestimated and potential species has been raised in recent reviews (Schmid et al. 2013;Castroviejo-Fisher et al. 2015).
These species are associated with mountain regions and adjacent coastal areas in the states of Espírito Santo, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, and Santa Catarina (Duellman et al. 2011;Folly et al. 2014;Frost 2014;Franz and Mello 2015), in southeastern and southern of Brazil.None of these studies revealed the presence of this genus in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.Herein, we report the occurrence of populations of the genus Fritziana for the state of Minas Gerais.In addition, we present a distribution map of the genus and discuss its historical distribution in Minas Gerais state.

Notes oN GeoGraphic DistributioN
the genus proposed by Folly et al. (2014), our specimens are related to F. fissilis; they present bifid subarticular tubercles on any fingers or toes, which are considered a diagnostic character of F. fissilis.However, the dorsal pattern formed by interorbital dark brown hourglass/ trapezoid-shaped mark, extending to the sacral region related only to F. fissilis (Folly et al. 2014), show variation in the specimens.
We examined three specimens, two males (MCNAM 17658 and 18495) and a female with eggs in the back (MCNAM 17658), from Serra da Piedade, Caeté municipality, that was also identified as belonging to the genus Fritziana (Figure 2A).Although presenting bifid subarticular tubercles on any fingers or toes, these specimens also display a dorsal pattern slightly different from that proposed to F. fissilis by Folly et al. (2014).In addition, confirmation (by way of a photograph) of the existence of a specimen (USMN 96919) recorded by Cochran (1955) from the municipality of Passa Quatro, Minas Gerais and referred to as F. goeldii.The USMN also has another photographic record for the state in the municipality of Itamonte (specimens USMN 232355-56), assigned as F. ohausi by the presence of an that showed the determinations as Fritziana and "Flecto notus" (including unnamed aff., cf., and sp.) to generate the distribution map of the genus.
All aforementioned specimens were identified as belonging to the genus Fritziana for presenting the characters corresponding to the diagnosis following Duellman and Gray (1983).Based on the key to species of interorbital brown inverted triangle-shaped mark, with two stripes that are long and divergent in this specimen (see Folly et al. 2014).
The occurrence of the genus Fritziana in the south of the Espinhaço mountain range, in the Serra da Piedade, the furthest inland record, 215 km east of the Parque Nacional do Caparaó, Ibitirama municipality, Espírito Santo state, the nearest record for the genus.
Originally described for the state of Rio de Janeiro, species of Fritziana were always reported as occurring in the hilly regions in the state of Espírito Santo, the Serra do Mar in the state of Rio de Janeiro and also the mountain region in the state of São Paulo (Duellman and Gray 1983;Folly et al. 2014).Prior studies neglected the Cochran's (1955) record of F. goeldii from the municipality of Santa Rita de Passa Quatro (currently Passa Quatro municipality), the first record of the genus from Minas Gerais state.In addition to the record from Passa Quatro, four records from the municipalities of Caeté, Catas Altas, Itamonte, and Rosário da Limeira, increase the known distribution of the genus Fritziana in the state.
Although the specimens from Serra do Brigadeiro, RPPN Serra do Caraça, and Serra da Piedade are related as F. fissilis, we did not assign those as belonging to this species.The characters appointed as synapomorphy to F. fissilis do not fit them.It is now recognized that different populations assigned to F. fissilis belong to a species complex and, an integrative approach (bioacustic, morphologic, and molecular), is necessary to determine the real identities of these populations (Franz and Mello 2014;Padial et al. 2014;Castroviejo-Fisher et al. 2015).However, we do not reject the possibility that these populations are undescribed taxon.
Our record from the Serra do Brigadeiro corroborates the observation of the genus in areas within the Atlantic Rainforest biome.Our specimens were found in a fragment composed by semi-deciduous seasonal forest in upper montane (Veloso et al. 1991).These new records from the Serra de Piedade and RPPN Serra do Caraça extend the distribution of the genus to areas transitional between the Atlantic Rainforest and Cerrado biomes.These transition areas are characterized as regions with herbaceous and shrubby vegetation, with the possible presence of underdeveloped trees, typical of grasslands (Ribeiro and Walter 1998).
The new records from mountainous areas of Minas Gerais reinforce the observations made by Leite et al. (2008) who commented that the low richness of amphibians at higher elevations is related to the scarcity of water.However, bromeligenous species such as the Fritziana are better adapted to such condition.These records also reinforce the need for more studies in mountainous areas using methodologies that are better suited to locate this genus with such a specialized habitat.
Fritziana proves to be a genus with wide distribution throughout the Atlantic Rainforest of southern and southeastern Brazil, with potential for the discovery of new populations and taxa.However, specimens are deposited in collections and set aside without study, which hampers the conservation of Fritziana specimens.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CSG and MAAP are grateful to "Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior (CAPES) for financial support.The Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) issued the collect permition (#33456-1).This work is a contribution to the project "Biogeografia e Conservação da anurofauna no Complexo Serrano da Mantiqueira, Sudeste do Brasil", supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Project #068437-2014/06).Financial support was given to RNF through a scientific productivity fellowship (CNPq).Comments of anonymous reviewers helped to improve an earlier version of this manuscript.We are grateful to José Peres Pombal Jr., Manuela Cardoso (MNRJ), and Luciana Nascimento (MCNAM) for allowing us to examine preserved specimens under their care and all collections (see appendix 1) with data available on SpeciesLink records.We are grateful also to USMN, for the photographs of specimens in the collection.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Distribution map of the genus Fritziana.Gray circle with a central dot: Records from literature, speciesLink, and collections.White circle with a central dot: records to Minas Gerais state.
Check List 12(4): 1947, 12 August 2016 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15560/12.4.1947ISSN 1809-127X © 2016 Check List and Authors Additional data were compiled from literature and photographic record provided by the National Museum of Natural History (USMN), Washington, D.C., United States.For any source, we considered all the records