Brachycephalus pitanga
| Brachycephalus pitanga | ||||||||||||
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Brachycephalus pitanga |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Brachycephalus pitanga | ||||||||||||
| Alves , Sawaya , Reis & Haddad , 2009 |
Brachycephalus pitanga is a thumb nail-sized frog from the family of the saddleback toad (Brachycephalidae). The species is endemic to the Brazilian state of São Paulo .
features
The head-torso length is 10.8 to 12.1 millimeters in males and 12.6 to 14 millimeters in females. The basic color of Brachycephalus pitanga is orange, the back is red and the head and legs show numerous red dots and spots. The specific epithet is derived from the word for "reddish" in the native Tupi-Guaraní language . The bright color indicates the strong toxicity of possible predators. The frog has small dark brown spots on the sides, the belly has brownish spots and small spots on the orange base color. The fingers and toes are reduced to three on each limb. The hind legs are relatively short. As with all saddlebacks, there is a saddle-shaped bone plate under the skin on the back.
Occurrence
Brachycephalus pitanga was discovered and cataloged in the course of the BIOTA / FAPESP program of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The species occurs in the rainforest of the Brazilian Atlantic coast in the natural park “Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar”, which is located between the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro , and also in the adjacent mountain forests of the montane level up to 1800 m above sea level.
Way of life
These frogs live diurnally in the rotting fallen leaves on the ground. At times they are very common. They have a direct development, meaning there is no tadpole stage in the water. Larval development is completed in the egg on land.
Systematics
Between 2005 and 2009, four other species of the genus Brachycephalus endemic to the coastal forests of southeastern Brazil were discovered in addition to this . The team Ribeiro, Alves, Haddad and Reis from the Universidade Estadual Paulista and other scientific institutes in São Paulo described Brachycephalus brunneus and Brachycephalus izecksohni in 2005 and Brachycephalus pombali and Brachycephalus ferruginus in 2006 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Spectrum of Science, Edition 08, 2010, page 11
- ↑ Quentin Wheeler: New to nature No 4: Brachycephalus pitanga , The Observer of March 28, 2010
- ↑ LF Ribeiro, Ana CR Alves, Célio FB Haddad and Sérgio F. Reis: Two new species of Brachycephalus from Paraná State, southern Brazil (Anura, Brachycephalidae). Boletim Museu Nacional Zoologia, 519, pp. 1-18, 2005 doi : 10.1655 / 05-41.1
- ↑ Ana CR Alves, LF Ribeiro, Célio FB Haddad and Sérgio F. Reis: Two new species of Brachycephalus (Anura: Brachycephalidae) from the Atlantic forest in Paraná State, southern Brazil. Herpetologica, 62, pp. 221-233, 2006 doi : 10.1655 / 05-41.1
- ↑ SB Hedges, WE Duellman, & MP Heinicke: New World direct-developing frogs (Anura: Terrarana): Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography, and conservation. Zootaxa, 1737, pp. 1-182, 2008 PDF abstract
literature
- Ana CR Alves, Ricardo J. Sawaya, Sérgio F. dos Reis and Célio FB Haddad: New Species of Brachycephalus (Anura: Brachycephalidae) from the Atlantic Rain Forest in São Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil. Journal of Herpetology, 43, 2, pp. 212-219, 2009 (first description)
