''Spinomantis peraccae'' 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 mantellid

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Mantellinae Mantellinae is a subfamily of frogs in the family Mantellidae. These frogs are native to Madagascar and Mayotte. The species vary in size from under 25 mm (e.g. some species of ''Blommersia'') to over 100 mm (e.g. '' Mantidactylus guttu ...

. It 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 ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and widely distributed in the northern, eastern, and central parts of the island. The specific

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

honours

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

Mario Giacinto Peracca Mario Giacinto Peracca (21 November 1861, Turin – 23 May 1923, Turin) was an Italian herpetologist. He discovered zoology through his father, an amateur ornithologist. He started taking medical classes at the University of Turin, with his studi ...

. Common name Peracca's Madagascar frog has been coined for it.

Taxonomy

George Albert Boulenger George Albert Boulenger (19 October 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a Belgian-British zoologist who described and gave scientific names to over 2,000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Boulenger was also an active botani ...

described this species in 1896 within the genus ''

Rhacophorus ''Rhacophorus'' is a genus of frogs in the shrub-frog family Rhacophoridae, which, with the related Hylidae, is one of the two genera of true tree frogs. They are found in China, India, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia, including the island ...

''. Rose M. A. Blommers-Schlösser transferred it to ''

Mantidactylus ''Mantidactylus'' is a frog genus in the mantellid subfamily Mantellinae. This genus is restricted to Madagascar. The genus is divided into several subgenera that form monophyletic genetic clusters and are ecologically similar. Taxonomy ''Mant ...

'' in 1978. placed it in the then-

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Blommersia'' in 1992, but it was moved to the then-subgenus ''

Spinomantis ''Spinomantis'' is a frog genus in the Mantellidae, mantellid subfamily Mantellinae. This genus is restricted to Madagascar. At present it contains 13 species. They are Arboreal locomotion, arboreal or terrestrial frogs and occur in or along smal ...

'' by Glaw and Vences in 1994.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The snout is rounded. The tympanum is distinct and supra-tympanic fold is prominent. The fingers have expanded discs but no webbing; the toes are webbed but the discs are smaller than those on the fingers. The dorsum is brownish-greenish and has darker blotches. Dorsal skin is rather warty with dark, protruding dots. The lower parts are whitish; there are few dark spots on the throat.

Geographic range

It is

to the eastern half of

Habitat

''Spinomantis peraccae'' occurs in pristine rainforest along streams 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

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

. The eggs are laid on leaves above water. The

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

develop in slow-flowing streams.

Conservation status

''Spinomantis peraccae'' is a locally abundant species, but it is suffering from

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. It occurs in many protected areas. Because of its wide range and large overall population, it is not considered threatened.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4677758 peraccae Endemic frogs of Madagascar Amphibians described in 1896 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger Taxonomy articles created by Polbot