''Engystomops freibergi'' is a

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 ...

native to the Amazonian

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, southeastern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, and Amazonian

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. For a while, it was considered to be a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''

Engystomops petersi ''Engystomops petersi'' (common name: Peters' dwarf frog) is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is found in Amazon rainforest, Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It is morphologically similar to its sibling species, ''Engysto ...

'', its

sibling species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, but its species status was resurrected in a study published in 1998. Nevertheless, these two species have also been mixed in later studies, and there are records from the

Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British Guiana, British, Surinam (Dutch colo ...

that have not yet been allocated to either species.

Divergence In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the rate that the vector field alters the volume in an infinitesimal neighborhood of each point. (In 2D this "volume" refers to ...

of these two species seems to have been driven by behavioural isolation related to

male call ''Male Call'' is an American comic strip series created and drawn by Milton Caniff on a volunteer basis, exclusively for US military publications during World War II. The strip began January 24, 1943. Caniff continued ''Male Call'' until seven m ...

characteristics more than

geographic isolation Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

Description

''Engystomops freibergi'' are relatively small frogs. Males measure in snout–vent length and females . Dorsal colouration is variable. Skin on dorsum is warty, bearing small tubercles with scattered larger tubercles.

Habitat

''Engystomops freibergi'' is a locally common species found in lowland

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. These frogs are

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 ...

and usually found in the leaf litter in primary forest. They feed primarily on

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

Reproduction

The breeding period coincides with the rainy season (December–March). Males call at night near temporary ponds and slow-moving streams. The call consists of a prefix and a "whine" component, and in some populations, a third "squawk" component. Foam nests are deposited on the surface of ponds.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4674085 freibergi Amphibians of Bolivia Frogs of Brazil Frogs of Peru Amphibians described in 1969