''Leptodactylus hylodes'' is a species of
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...
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 ...
.
It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...
to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Its natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s and intermittent freshwater
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
es.
It is threatened by
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
.
The species is unique within the genus ''
Leptodactylus
''Leptodactylus'' is a genus of leptodactylid frogs. It includes the species commonly called ditch frogs or white-lipped frogs. It is very similar to ''Physalaemus
''Physalaemus'' is a large genus of leptodactylid
The southern frogs form th ...
'' in that it has heterogeneous fingertips, with digits II and III bearing rounded, non-expanded tips, while digits IV and V have small ungrooved disks. Its specific epithet "''hylodes''" is derived from Greek, meaning "bushy". It has not been assigned to any of the 4 ''Leptodactylus'' species groups.
References
hylodes
''Hylodes'' is a genus of frogs in the family Hylodidae. It might be paraphyletic with respect to ''Megaelosia''. The genus is endemic to southeastern Brazil. They are also known as the tree toads, or more ambiguously, as torrent frogs. They are ...
Endemic frogs of Brazil
Amphibians described in 1862
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Leptodactylidae-stub