''Adelophryne maranguapensis'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family

Eleutherodactylidae The Eleutherodactylidae are a family of direct-developing frogs native to northern South America, the Caribbean, and southernmost North America. They are sometimes known under the common name rain frogs. Formerly the subfamily Eleutherodactylina ...

. 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 elsew ...

to Serra de Maranguape, just west of

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

, in

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

state, northeastern

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 ...

Description

Based on the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

including two adult males and a single adult female, adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The head is longer than it is wide. The snout is truncate in dorsal view and pointed in profile, slightly projecting beyond the mouth. The tympanum is distinct in most specimens. There is no supra-tympanic fold and 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 indistinct. The fingers have no webbing and have small discs; only the third finger has discs that is distinctly wider than the adjacent phalange. The toes have no webbing either but the discs are more distinct than those on the fingers. Skin is smooth. The dorsal coloration is dark to reddish brown with an hourglass like central pattern. There is a dark brown lateral band. The limbs are crossbanded. The lower parts are light brown to beige.

Reproduction

The male advertisement call consists of 5–8 multi-pulse notes with a dominant frequency around 4800 Hz; the calling males were observed in March, during the rainy season in Serra de Maranguape. The female measuring 17 mm had four large eggs. Egg clutches have been found in

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

leaf axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

s above the ground. The clutches were wound above the water accumulated in the axils. Clutch size varied between three and eight; it is possible that the clutches may represent more than one female; the different developmental stages seen in one clutch at least shows that the eggs were not deposited at the same time. Development is direct, with the eggs hatching directly into froglets measuring .

Habitat and conservation

''Adelophryne maranguapensis'' occurs in the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

of Serra de Maranguape at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. It is known from both primary and secondary forest and even bamboo and banana plantations, but not open habitats. It is a diurnal leaf-litter species but can also be found in bromeliads above the ground. 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 ...

caused by logging, agriculture, and human settlement, and by collection of bromeliads for sale.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2707091 maranguapensis Endemic fauna of Brazil Amphibians of Brazil Amphibians described in 1994 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Marinus Steven Hoogmoed