Giant and Phantom Frogs in the Atlantic Forest: Historical distribution and conservation implications

•We reviewed the spatiotemporal records for Ceratophrys aurita, Megaelosia spp., and Phantasmarana spp. in the Atlantic Forest.•The three taxa showed a pattern with populations declines in the decades of 1970 or 1980.•Fifty-one percent of evaluated populations are more than 50 years without recent records.•Recent records for C. aurita are restricted to less than 30 % of the historical sites of occurrence.•Historical spatiotemporal data may uncover species that needs immediate conservation actions.