Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

After nearly 5 years of exploration in the mountainous areas of the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil, a team of researchers has discovered seven new species of brightly colored miniature frogs belonging to the genus Brachycephalus.

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him





After nearly 5 years of exploration in the mountainous areas of the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil, a team of researchers has discovered seven new species of brightly colored miniature frogs, belonging to the genus Brachycephalus.

Brazil's Atlantic rainforest is home to a highly unique group of frogs that have intrigued i for over a century. Known as Brachycephalus, these frogs are among the smallest terrestrial vertebrates in existence, with sizes that in adults often do not exceed 1 cm in length. Their bright colors perhaps serve as a warning for the presence of a very potent neurotoxin in their skin, tetrodotoxin.

The first kind of miniature frog was described in 1842 by the famous German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix, but most of the species of the genus have only been discovered in the last decade, mainly due to their highly endemic nature and the difficulty of reaching mountain sites where they are located.

Over the course of five years of field work, a team of researchers has provided the largest addition to the biodiversity of miniature frogs, with seven new species. Their study was published in the magazine in PeerJ.

Index

Rachycephalus marieterezae

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

Brachycephalus fuscolineatus

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

Brachycephalus verrucosus

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

Brachycephalus leopardus

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)


Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

Brachycephalus auroguttatus

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

brachycephalus apothecary

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)

Brachycephalus olivaceus

Adorable miniature frogs: 7 new species in Brazil (PHOTO and VIDEO)


Luiz Ribeiro, associate researcher at the Mater Natura Institute for Environmental Studies, he is optimistic about the prospects for future studies on miniature wounds: "This is just the beginning, especially given the fact that we have already found other species that we are in the process of formally describing."

But the team didn't even have time to find out that they are already in danger of extinction: Forests are very sensitive to climate change and the long-term conservation of these species must involve the protection of their habitats.

Roberta Ragni

Photo Credit, Luiz Fernando Ribeiro/CC BY SA

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