Description of a New Species of Fossil Ceratophrys (Anura: Ceratophryidae) From Versalles Cave, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

We describe a new fossil species of Ceratophrys from cave sediments in Brazil tentatively assessed as late Pleistocene–early Holocene in age. The specimen consists of a nearly complete skull that is missing only the right premaxilla and the right columella. A detailed description and comparative analysis, which considers both living and fossil species, supports the conclusion that the specimen represents a previously unknown, extinct species of Ceratophrys. Poorly represented and assessed characters, paleodistribution of Ceratophryidae, and the taxonomic rectification of the Ceratophrys fossil specimens described by Günther (1859) are also discussed.