New species of 'pumpkin toadlet' poisonous frog found in Brazil
LIFE 28 April 2021
By Jake Buehler
A pumpkin toadlet crawls past a bright orange mushroom, a common feature of the tiny frog’s habitat
Edelcio Muscat
Pumpkin toadlets are poisonous frogs with brilliant orange skin that are small enough to fit on a thumbnail – and researchers have uncovered a new species of these vibrant amphibians.
Ivan Nunes at São Paulo State University in Brazil and his colleagues suspected a local toadlet species (Brachycephalus ephippium) was more than it appeared. Unusually widespread for a pumpkin toadlet, the species was found throughout the southeastern coastline of Brazil. The team suspected that the wide-ranging frogs were actually multiple species with smaller ranges.
Nunes and his team collected wild toadlets from the Project Dacnis preserve near São Paulo, measuring and comparing the physical features of 276 frogs. The team also made 76 field surveys between October 2018 and September 2019 to study the toadlets’ behaviours and habitat use.
They also included museum specimens that were collected over a range of 200 kilometres. The team analysed DNA samples from 71 toadlets, and recorded the mating calls of several males to see how they compared with those from close relatives.
More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2276186-new-species-of-pumpkin-toadlet-poisonous-frog-found-in-brazil/
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A member of the newly dubbed Brachycephalus rotenbergae, a pumpkin toadlet.
Photo: Edelcio Muscat
Scientists in Brazil say they’ve discovered a new species of poisonous toad—hidden in plain sight due to its close resemblance to another related species. Aside from their tiny size, the wee toads have brightly colored skin and bones that fluoresce under UV light, a feature that still isn’t completely understood.
Study author Ivan Sergio Nunes Silva Filho, a zoologist at São Paulo State University, and his colleagues have been studying the biodiversity of the Brazilian Amazon for some time. Part of this work has involved untangling the genus of amphibians known as Brachycephalus. Not all toads and frogs in the genus look alike, but they’re all miniaturized, compared to the average frog we’re familiar with, with the smallest species being no longer than 1 centimeter front to back. Many also have very similar and sometimes poisonous orange skin, leading to their nickname of pumpkin toadlets (the more brownish ones are called flea frogs and toads).
There are more than 30 known species of Brachycephalus, including 15 possible new species that have been identified by scientists in the past five years. One species in particular, called Brachycephalus ephippium, is found throughout Brazil. But researchers like Nunes have wondered whether some of these sightings of B. ephippium might have actually been of other related species that have gone unnoticed.
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Brachycephalus rotenbergae glowing under a UV flashlight.
Photo: Muscat, et al, PLOS One
In their new paper, published in PLOS One on Wednesday, they argue that they’ve discovered one such hidden species along the Mantiqueira Mountains and forests of Southeastern Brazil. They’ve decided to name it Brachycephalus rotenbergae, after Elsie Laura Klabin Rotenberg, founder of Projeto Dacnis, a non-governmental organization dedicated to conservation of the Brazilian environment that helped with their research.
More:
https://gizmodo.com/glowing-pumpkin-toadlet-cant-hear-its-own-tiny-scream-1846782367