Wonderful naturewith his incredible biodiversity (which we unfortunately threaten): a research group led byInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas from Amazônia (Brazil) he discovered one in the rainforest New Velenty Arrow Frog. It is tiny, blue with copper -colored legs and represents one of the only two new species of Ranitomeya discovered in a decade.
The discovery took place in the Brazilian Amazonian rainforestwhere the researchers ventured with the intention of knowing more about the species that live in still isolated areas of the jungle (in fact, despite the intense research efforts, many areas of the Amazon rainforest remain little studied due to their distance and difficulty exploration).
In this new project, in particular, the scientists first flew on a small plane up to a “support” site in the large South American country, then they embarked on a 10 -hour boat trip in the river basin Juruáfollowed by a long excursion in the rainforest with local guides.
This led them to an area dominated by palm trees, where they have observed a kind of frog until then unknown to science. They then captured several samples, including Girini, and brought them back to the laboratory to study them.
DNA analysis revealed that the frog is a new kind of genre Ranitomeyaimmediately called Ranitomeya aethereain honor of its dominant trait: in fact the frogs are equipped with long blue lines which extend throughout the length of the body. Individuals of this species also have copper color legs With brown spots and a wider than long head.
While they were still in the jungle, the researchers photographed and filmed the frog in his habitat natural, also discovering that it emitted a recall of single couplingconsisting of 16-35 notes, lasting 8-16 milliseconds.
The new frog, like most poisonous arrow frogs, is tinyin fact just long 15 mm. This, in particular, is the first new species to be added to the genre in 10 years, and its individuals generally seem more active in the early hours of the morning and in the evening hours, although they modify their routine during the rainy periods.
The researchers also noticed that frogs tend to live Among the wild bananas plants And often they hide under the falls of falls. At the moment, however, they have been observed Only in a small area of the jungle.
The work was published on Plos One.
Sources: Phys.org / Plos One
