 |
This image shows the male holotype of the new species
Chiasmocleis quilombola. Phoyo Credit: João F. R. Tonini
|
The
Atlantic Forest is a hotspot of biodiversity and one of the most species
richness biome of anurans (frogs, tree-frogs, and toads) in the world. However,
current levels of diversity might be still underestimated. In the past few
years has been an increase in the description of new endemic species of this
biome along with the advance of molecular techniques and availability of samples
for DNA analysis.
Using
a more extensive number of samples for molecular and morphological analysis,
researchers from the University of Richmond and The George Washington
University described a tiny new species of narrow-mouthed frog from the Microhylidae
family in the open access journal ZooKeys.
Chiasmocleis quilombola occurs in
the Atlantic Forest of the Espírito Santo State, southeastern Brazil. Despite
its modest size, adult males reach only about 14 mm (adult females 17 mm), the new species bears a heroic
name inspired by the quilombos communities typical of the Espírito Santo State
in Brazil, where the frogs were collected.
The
specific epithet "quilombola" used for the species' name refers to
the people who inhabited these communities -- slaves who dared to escape during
colonial times and find a refuge in the depths of the Atlantic Forest.
Quilombos
were used as a refuge for escaped slaves during colonial Portuguese rule in
Brazil between 1530 and 1815. Even today in the north of Espírito Santo State
quilombola communities still remain and maintain alive their traditions, such
as quilombola food and craftwork.
"We
were puzzled by the morphological variation of those frogs, which is little,
but after the first results of the molecular phylogeny was clear there was
higher genetic disparity among them," say João Tonini, Ph. D. student at
The George Washington University. Chiasmocleis
quilombola occupy coastal areas north of Espírito Santo State, a
region that is under strong human pressure, therefore the species may face
imminent threat of habitat loss.
Citation
João
Filipe Tonini, Maurício Forlani, Rafael de Sá. A new species of
Chiasmocleis (Microhylidae, Gastrophryninae) from the Atlantic Forest
of Espírito Santo State, Brazil. ZooKeys, 2014; 428: 109
DOI:10.3897/zookeys.428.7352