''Adenomera lutzi'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Leptodactylidae The southern frogs form the Leptodactylidae, a name that comes from Greek meaning a bird or other animal having slender toes. They are a diverse family of frogs that most likely diverged from other hyloids during the Cretaceous. The family has u ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

. First described from the upper

Potaro River The Potaro River is a river in Guyana that runs from Mount Ayanganna area of the Pakaraima Mountains for approximately before flowing into the Essequibo River, Guyana's largest river. The renowned Kaieteur Falls is on the Potaro. Features Ni ...

based on specimens collected before 1905, it is now known from a number of sites around the

Pakaraima Mountains The Pacaraima or Pakaraima Mountains (, ) are a mountain range primarily in southwestern Guyana, and into northern Brazil and eastern Venezuela. Geography The range extends from west to east for over . Its highest peak is Mount Roraima at above ...

in west-central Guyana. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''lutzi'' honors

Adolfo Lutz Adolfo Lutz (18 December 1855 – 6 October 1940) was a Brazilian physician, father of tropical medicine and medical zoology in Brazil, and a pioneer epidemiologist and researcher in infectious diseases. Life Lutz was born in Rio de Janeiro, on ...

, a Brazilian medical entomologist and parasitologist and a pioneer of herpetology. The

common names In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contras ...

Lutz's tropical bullfrog and Lutz's thin-toed frog have been coined for the species.

Description

Adult males of ''Adenomera lutzi'' measure and adult females in snout-to-vent length (SVL). The snout is sub-elliptical when seen from above and rounded-acute in profile. The

canthus rostralis In snakes and amphibians, the canthus, canthal ridge or ''canthus rostralis''Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa''. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. . is the angle between the flat crown of the head and the ...

is rounded. The tympanum is distinct. The toe tips are expanded into small discs but lack circummarginal grooves. The forearms bear tubercles, and the lower surface of the tarsus has distinct, white-tipped tubercles. The dorsal coloration is highly variable, and there are five major forms: (1) dark brown, grey or black ground color without or with a barely discernible pattern, (2) light–medium grey ground color with a well-defined pattern (a strongly marked dark brown–black inter-orbital bar and post-orbital ridges; chevron between shoulders almost continuous with round lumbar spots and irregular dark brown–black markings on the back), (3) as (2) but light grey, brown or reddish brown ground color and lighter, smaller, and much less evident/absent markings on the back, (4) similar to (2) but with dark brown to black mottling instead of well-defined markings on the back, and (5) dark grey to black ground color with large orange–orangish brown oblique lateral stripe, possibly with discernible darker markings. Most specimens have a white stripe that passes from the eye to the arm insertion, sometimes partly encompassing the tympanum. A narrow, yellow mid-dorsal stripe is often present but may be intermittent. The posterior surface of thigh is black with distinct yellow, orange, or red spotting or mottling. The males has a yellow to orangish yellow throat and belly. The

vocal sac The vocal sac is the flexible Biological membrane, membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the voca ...

is internal.

Reproduction

Kok and colleagues hypothesize that the male ''Adenomera lutzi'' uses its shovel-shaped snout to excavate underground nesting chambers. Reproduction takes place during the wettest part of the year; excavation of egg chambers requires wet soils. The male advertisement call is a sequence of regular notes repeated about 17–23 times per minute. The dominant frequency is about 3300–3600 Hz. Female fecundity is 3–10 eggs.

Habitat and conservation

''Adenomera lutzi'' occurs in lowland and montane tropical primary forests at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It is a primarily

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

frog that lives in and on leaf litter. Reproduction does not depend on bodies of water. This species can be locally common. There are no known threats to it. It occurs in an area of undisturbed remote forest, and it is also known from the

Kaieteur National Park Kaieteur National Park is a national park located in the Potaro-Siparuni Region of Guyana, roughly 633 km (393.33 miles) south of Georgetown, the nation's capital, closer to the border with Brazil than to the Caribbean coast. It is widely conside ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2200456 lutzi Endemic fauna of Guyana Amphibians of Guyana Amphibians described in 1975 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot