Amazophrynella Explained

Amazophrynella is a genus of toads in the family Bufonidae. They are found throughout the Amazon Basin.

Taxonomy

Amazophrynella was separated from Dendrophryniscus in 2012 based on molecular genetic evidence that indicated deep divergence between an Amazonian and an Atlantic Forest clade, the latter retaining the name Dendrophryniscus whereas the former was described as a new genus Amazonella, later amended to Amazophrynella because of homonymy. The analysis suggested that Amazophrynella is the sister taxon of Dendrophryniscus, but a later study has suggested a more distant relationship.

Species

The following species are recognized in the genus Amazophrynella:

• Amazophrynella amazonicola Rojas, Carvalho, Ávila, Farias, Gordo, and Hrbek, 2015
• Amazophrynella bilinguis Kaefer, Rojas, Ferrão, Farias & Lima, 2019
• Amazophrynella bokermanni (Izecksohn, 1994)
• Amazophrynella gardai Mângia, Koroiva & Santana, 2020^[1]
• Amazophrynella javierbustamantei Rojas-Zamora, Chaparro, Carvalho, Ávila, Farias, Hrbek, and Gordo, 2016
• Amazophrynella manaos Rojas, Carvalho, Ávila, Farias, and Hrbek, 2014
• Amazophrynella matses Rojas, Carvalho, Ávila, Farias, Gordo, and Hrbek, 2015
• Amazophrynella minuta (Melin, 1941)
• Amazophrynella moisesii Rojas-Zamora, Fouquet, Ron, Hernández-Ruz, Melo-Sampaio, Chaparro, Vogt, Carvalho, Pinheiro, Ávila, Farias, Gordo, and Hrbek, 2018
• Amazophrynella siona Rojas-Zamora, Fouquet, Ron, Hernández-Ruz, Melo-Sampaio, Chaparro, Vogt, Carvalho, Pinheiro, Ávila, Farias, Gordo, and Hrbek, 2018
• Amazophrynella teko Rojas-Zamora, Fouquet, Ron, Hernández-Ruz, Melo-Sampaio, Chaparro, Vogt, Carvalho, Pinheiro, Ávila, Farias, Gordo, and Hrbek, 2018
• Amazophrynella vote Ávila, Carvalho, Gordo, Kawashita-Ribeiro, and Morais, 2012
• Amazophrynella xinguensis Rojas-Zamora, Fouquet, Ron, Hernández-Ruz, Melo-Sampaio, Chaparro, Vogt, Carvalho, Pinheiro, Ávila, Farias, Gordo, and Hrbek, 2018

Description

Species of the genus Amazophrynella are small toads measuring 12mm27mm in snout–vent length. The hind limbs are well developed. The parotoid glands are absent, as are vocal slits and tympana. The skin is uniformly and finely granulose. Dorsal coloration is cryptic.

Species of the genus Amazophrynella are pond breeders, which is presumably an ancestral trait in bufonids (most Dendrophryniscus breed in phytotelmata).

Notes and References

1. Mângia. Sarah. Koroiva. Ricardo. Santana. Diego José. 2020-09-18. A new tiny toad species of Amazophrynella (Anura: Bufonidae) from east of the Guiana Shield in Amazonia, Brazil. PeerJ. en. 8. e9887. 10.7717/peerj.9887. 2167-8359. 7505081. 32999760 . free .