''Phyllodytes punctatus'' 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 ...

s in the family

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as " tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

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 ...

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 ...

. People have seen it as high as 140 meters above sea level. The adult frog measures about 18.2-22.8 mm long in snout-vent length. The skin of the dorsum is brown, and there are brown spots on the back and legs. This frog has a bump on its nose and three bumps on each

eyelid An eyelid ( ) is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. "Palpebral ...

. Scientists list this frog as endangered because of its small remaining range, only 1,044 km2, which is still in some danger from

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

and livestock cultivation. There is also some danger from harvesting of the bromeliad plants on which the frogs live, but this is limited in scope.

Real estate speculation Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rat ...

also threatens this frog. This frog lives in places with white sandy soil and in shrubland. This frog lives on

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a Family (biology), family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the Tropics, tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and on ...

plants that grow on native hosts. Scientists have only seen this frog in natural habitats, and not in disturbed areas such as farms or gardens.

References

Phyllodytes Endemic frogs of Brazil Amphibians described in 2004 Taxa named by Ulisses Caramaschi Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Hylinae-stub