Dendropsophus bromeliaceus
Photos: From Ferreira et al 2015 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0)
Brazil's Atlantic Forest, which thanks to its more famous counterpart, the Amazon Rainforest, just doesn't get the attention it deserves, at least not from the general public. Luckily, the Atlantic Forest's incredible biodiversity hasn't been lost on biologists though, who continue working toward unravelling its mysteries. Not too long ago, I posted a note on the three new toad species that were described from the Atlantic Forest. All of those species were bromeligenous, that is to say they, like the Golden Rocket Frog (Anomaloglossus beebei) I've previously written about, breed in little pools of water that collect in bromeliads. A new paper in PLOS ONE by Ferreira et al, introduces yet another newly described phytotelm-breeding species from the Atlantic Forest. To meet the treefrog Dendropsophus bromeliaceus read the paper; here's the abstract, to get you started:
We describe a new treefrog species of Dendropsophus collected on rocky outcrops in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Ecologically, the new species can be distinguished from all known congeners by having a larval phase associated with rainwater accumulated in bromeliad phytotelms instead of temporary or lentic water bodies. Phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data confirms that the new species is a member of Dendropsophus; our analysis does not assign it to any recognized species group in the genus. Morphologically, based on comparison with the 96 known congeners, the new species is diagnosed by its small size, framed dorsal color pattern, and short webbing between toes IV-V. The advertisement call is composed of a moderate-pitched two-note call (~5 kHz). The territorial call contains more notes and pulses than the advertisement call. Field observations suggest that this new bromeligenous species uses a variety of bromeliad species to breed in, and may be both territorial and exhibit male parental care. (Reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0).
