Notes on the frog genus Thoropa (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae) with a description of a new species (Thoropa saxatilis)

A new species of Thoropa (T. saxatilis) is described from the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. This species and the two other large Thoropa occur allopatrically in the middle and southern Atlantic Forest Domain and campos rupestres of Brazil. The ranges of the two small Thoropa species overlap with each other and with T. miliaris in the middle Atlantic Forest region. Immunological microcomplement fixation albumin distances indicate that the large forms share a similar ancestral morphology and that distributions cannot be explained on the basis of recent allopatric speciation of a widespread ancestor. Adult male Thoropa have clusters of dark spines or a pad on the hand, and males of four out of five species either show scarring on the dorsum indicative of male combat or are reported to be territorial.