Audiovisual collections safeguard undescribed calls: description of anuran vocalisations based on recordings from a public sound library

Audiovisual collections in traditional private or public institutions are crucial for preserving and safeguarding natural recordings of biodiversity. These archives represent a snapshot of invaluable moments, behaviours, and interactions among species, often representing the last or only existing recordings. Therefore, animal vocalisation recordings are essential for future generations to understand the past and preserve the remaining biodiversity. In this study, we examined the largest Latin American sound archive, the Fonoteca Neotropical Jacques Vielliard, in search for anuran sounds that are not yet formally described. Herein, we describe the calls of eight species, the advertisement call of seven of them, and the release call of two of them. These species, belonging to three different families, were recorded in Brazil over the past six decades and have different conservation status. Notably, two of them are threatened by extinction and one is extinct. Our study fills important knowledge gaps about rare and declining anuran populations, highlighting the value of public scientific audiovisual collections.