CATENAZZI LAB
  • Home
  • Research
    • New species
  • Education
    • Curso 2025
  • Members
  • Publications
  • News
  • Contact
  • Link Page

News

Manu's special Toad

1/18/2015

0 Comments

 
Meet Rhinella manu, a pretty special frog.  This toad is named after the park in which it is endemic to, Manu.  Manu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is larger than the great state of Connecticut by more than 1,000sq miles.  It encompasses lowland Amazonian forest, high Andean peaks and everything in between.  This wide variety of habitats contains an even larger variety of animals.  In fact, Manu has 155 known species of amphibian and 132 species of reptiles, making it the most herpetofaunally diverse protected area in the world. (For more about Manu's incredible herpetofaunal diversity check out Alessandro's paper cited below) However, being named after an awesome park isn't the only cool thing about this toad.  This small toad is arboreal and, quite unusually for a member of the family Bufonidae, appears to be direct developing.  No tadpoles or eggs of this species have ever been found; and given the morphology of studied specimens, it appears that the eggs of this species may develop into small froglets within the egg (like members of the Strabomantidae). If correct, this would make  Rhinella manu truly unique. 
So not only is this frog named after and found in a herpetologist's paradise, but it's fascinating biology makes it one of the coolest species we've found so far! 

Cheers!
~Alex

CATENAZZI, A., LEHR, E. & VON MAY, R. The amphibians and reptiles of Manu National Park and its buffer zone, Amazon basin and eastern slopes of the Andes, Peru. Biota Neotrop. 13(4): http://www. biotaneotropica.org.br/v13n4/en/abstract?inventory+bn02813042013

 


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

    CATENAZZI LAB

    News from the lab

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Catenazzi Lab

11200 SW 8th Street, Department of Biological Sciences
Florida International University
Miami, FL 33199

Contact Us