Amphibia, Hylidae, Sphaenorhynchus pauloalvini Bokermann, 1973: distribution extension and rediscovery in nature

The genus Sphaenorhynchus comprises a total of 12 species which are distributed in tropical forest areas on the Amazon and Orinoco basins, Guianas, Trinidad, and the Atlantic rainforest regions of northeastern and southeastern Brazil (Frost 2007, Toledo et al 2007). Eleven of these species are currently recognized in the Brazilian territory (SBH 2008). According to Faivovich et al. (2005) Sphaenorhynchus is closely related to the genera Dendropsophus and Xenohyla. The Paulo’s lime treefrog Sphaenorhynchus pauloalvini (Figure 1) was described based on individuals collected in the Cacao Center Research (Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau, 14°47'08" S, 39°13'22" W, 50 m), Itabuna district, south of Bahia state. Although extensive field work was carried out in southern Bahia in the last years (e.g. Silvano and Pimenta 2003, Freitas and Silva 2004, 2005), the species has not been recorded since the original description in 1973.