''Phrynomedusa appendiculata'', the Santa Catarina leaf frog, 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 subfamily Phyllomedusinae. 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 Brazil, where it is only known from the southern

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 ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers. Despite being classified as

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, it is thought to be a very rare and declining species, and thus a more threatened conservation status is likely warranted. After 1970, no other sightings of the species were made until late 2011, when it was rediscovered near Santo André in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, marking the first observation of the species in over 41 years; these results were published in a 2022 study. The factors for its initial disappearance remain unclear, although it may have to do with chytridiomycosis and

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 ...

. The Santo André site is over 250 kilometers away from its type locality near

São Bento do Sul São Bento do Sul is a municipality, pop. 85,421 (2020) located in southern Brazil, in the northeast part of the state of Santa Catarina, just south of the state of Paraná. Industry São Bento do Sul is considered to be an industrialized ci ...

in Santa Catarina, and despite immense growth in

citizen science Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...

efforts over the following decade, the species has not been recorded at any other sites aside from Santo André. This may be due to the Santo André site having a more pristine habitat optimal for ''P. appendiculata'', but it may also be due to ''P. appendiculata'' being more difficult to record and thus being overlooked at other sites.

Sources

Phrynomedusa Endemic fauna of Brazil Amphibians described in 1925 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Phyllomedusinae-stub