''Stefania breweri'', also known as Brewer's carrying frog (in Spanish ''rana stefania de Brewer''), 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

Hemiphractidae The Hemiphractidae are a family of frogs from South and Central America. Previously, this group had been classified as a subfamily (Hemiphractinae) under family Hylidae. More recent research classifies these genera into their own family, or som ...

. 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 ...

Cerro Autana Cerro Autana (Autana Mountain) is a geological formation located at the western portion of the Guiana Shield in the Estado Amazonas, Venezuela near the Colombian border. It is characterized by a narrow base, a flat top, and almost vertical walls. ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and only known from a single specimen (

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

). It was named for Venezuelan explorer

Charles Brewer-Carías Charles Brewer-Carías (born 10 September 1938 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan explorer and naturalist. Known as the " Humboldt of the twentieth century", Brewer-Carías has led more than 200 expeditions to remote parts of the Venezuelan ...

Description

The holotype, of unknown sex, measures in snout–vent length (the specimen is somewhat dehydrated was not dissected to avoid damage). The snout is subacuminate in dorsal view and truncate 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 distinct and straight. The tympanum is distinct with an ossified annulus. The supra-tympanic fold is narrow but distinct. Skin is smooth. The fingers have small discs and no webbing. The toes have small discs and basal webbing. The preserved specimen is dorsally pale orange. A pale white inter-orbital bar is present. The flanks are whitish with a few dark brown bars. The throat, chest, and belly are uniformly pinkish. CerroAutanaNorthExposure

Habitat and conservation

This species is only known from the holotype that was collected in 1971 from the top of Cerro Autana at

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 ...

, during the first expedition to this

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a member of a family of table-top mountains or mesas found in northern South America, especially in Venezuela, western Guyana, and northern Brazil. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the ...

. The summit is dominated by an open swampy landscape with submesothermic herbaceous vegetation. The dominant plants are ''

Brocchinia hechtioides ''Brocchinia hechtioides'' is a species of plant in the genus ''Brocchinia''. This species is native to Venezuela and Guyana. It is one of the two or three members of the genus (the others being '' B. reducta'' and possibly '' B. tatei'') that ap ...

'' and '' Kunhardtia rhodantha''. The specimen was found within the tubular rolled leaves of a ''

Brocchinia ''Brocchinia'' is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, and is the sole genus of the subfamily Brocchinioideae, containing 20 species. The genus is named for Giovanni Battista Brocchi, Italian naturalist (1772–1826). ''Brocchinia'' s ...

'' bromeliad. The only other amphibian known from the summit is ''

Leptodactylus lithonaetes ''Leptodactylus lithonaetes'' is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and possibly Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, rivers, and rocky ...

''. ''Stefania breweri'' has not been observed by two later expeditions to Cerro Autana, in 1972 and in 2001. Although the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) has assessed ''S. breweri'' as vulnerable, Barrio-Amorós and colleagues (2019) suggest that it should rather be classified as "

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

" because only single specimen is known (despite later expeditions involving herpetologists) and because the available habitat is very restricted (the summit is 1.9 km²).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q853202 breweri Frogs of South America Amphibians of Venezuela Endemic fauna of Venezuela Amphibians described in 2003 Taxa named by Cesar L. Barrio-Amoros Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians of the Tepuis