Melanophryniscus admirabilis Di-Bernardo, Maneyro & Grillo 2006

30-40 mm. Dorsum mainly green with yellowish glands. Belly and chest black, with pale green or yellowish glands. Chin and throat black with some yellow spots. Ventral surface of thighs, palms and soles red.

The habitat for this species is the banks of streams in hills of the Brazilian Southern Plateau in Rio Grande do Sul State.

This species breeds after rains in October and perhaps later. The clutches are deposited in marginal ponds.

Because this species is a microendemic, its survival is directly related to habitat preservation.

Set/out

Diagnosis Is the largest species belonging to the genus Melanophryniscus (snout-vent length range 29.48-40.28 mm). It is characterized by absence of frontal swelling, and presence of very welldeveloped glands in dorsal, lateral, and ventral surfaces. The skin glands are very conspicuous and easily distinguishable because of their contrasting coloration.

Is known only from the type locality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

arbusto

perene

sementes viáveis

Description of holotype Body stout; head longer than wide; glands of the skin diminish in size in the dorsal surface of the head (absent from the interorbital region to the tip of the snout); neck indistinguishable from head; snout truncated in dorsal and lateral views; nostrils oval, located subterminally respect to the snout and open in a lateral direction; canthus rostralis rounded and not evident; loreal region concave; eyes large; eyelid length less than eyelid-nostril distance and than interorbital distance; pupils rounded and black; tympanic membranes not visible; parotoid glands absent; external border of the upper maxillae wider than the external border of the mandibles (this last encompassed by the former, that resembles an upper lip); upper lip with a medial and very small reentrant; maxillae and premaxillae edentate; vocal sac median subgular (externally black with few little yellowish glands); tongue narrow and elongate, with its posterior margin entire and rounded; dorsal skin with very conspicuous glands from the neck to the vent (also conspicuous, but smaller on lateral and ventral surfaces); fore and hind limbs slender with dorsal surfaces covered by the typical granulation described above; external metacarpal tubercle also conspicuous (more than 2 mm in diameter); inner metacarpal tubercle smaller; fingers thick and rounded at the tips; predominant hand formula: I , IV , II , III, (fingers I, II, and IV are subequal); hands without webbing but posses subarticular and palmar tubercles; hind feet with two metatarsal tubercles (inner several times larger than the outer); feet with a poorly developed interdigital membrane (particularly between fingers I, II, and III); foot formula: I , II , V , III , IV; tips of the toes rounded; subarticular feet tubercles more conspicuous than those on the forelimb digits. Measurements of the Holotype (in mm).Â?snout-vent length 38.36, head length 10.81, mandibular width 5 10.01, eye diameter 4.04, interorbital distance 6.20, snout-eye distance 4.39, internarinal distance 3.31, upper forearm length 10.91, lower forearm length 8.88, tibia length 14.96, leg length 13.27, foot length 21.60. Color in life: Predominant color of dorsal surface green, which becomes paler, yellowish, in the glands; chin and gular region black with some yellow glands; chest and belly black, with irregular pale green or yellowish (sometimes redcentered spots) glands; ventral surface of thighs red; flanks darker than dorsum, with large yellow rounded glands; fore and hind limbs green in dorsal view; palms and soles bright red; pupil limited with a brown ring; iris gold and green with brown spots. Color in Preservative: Primary dorsal coloration grey and primary ventral coloration black; glands paler, mainly on the ventral surface, where they contrast deeply with the dark ground coloration; inner surface of the thighs, palms and soles yellowish. VariationThe dorsal and ventral color patterns are quite conservative, given that the spatial distribution of the glands is different in each specimen. The extent and brightness of the red coloration on the ventral surfaces of the thighs is variable, being less evident in some specimens (e.g., MCP 7961). The amount of webbing on the feet is variable, being absent in some specimens (e.g., MCP 7956). Compared to the holotype, the snout is less truncated in three specimens (MCP 7958, 7960, and 7961). Two of the paratypes have evident deformities: MCP 7957 lacks all metatarsals and phalanges of the right hind foot; and MCP 7961 lacks the hallux of the right hind foot and has significant deformities of the head. Tadpole morphology unknown.

América do sul

NT. Near Threatened.

Melanophryniscus admirabilis is a species of toads in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Brazil.