Red pumpkin toadlet
Brachycephalus pitanga, the red pumpkin toadlet, is a small and brightly coloured species of anuran in the family Brachycephalidae. It is endemic to Atlantic rainforests in São Paulo state of southeastern Brazil, and only known from four localities at an altitude of 900–1,140 m (2,950–3,740 ft) in Ubatuba (the type locality) and São Luiz do Paraitinga. It can be very common where found, and two of the known localities are protected by the Serra do Mar State Park. Unlike many other pumpkin toadlets (genus Brachycephalus ), the red pumpkin toadlet is not considered threatened.
Diurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Jumping (saltation) can be distinguished from running, galloping, and other gaits where the entire body is temporarily airborne by the relatively l...
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starts withAlthough very small with a snout–to–vent length of 10.8–12.1 mm (0.43–0.48 in) in adult males and 12.6–14 mm (0.50–0.55 in) in adult females, the red pumpkin toadlet is a medium-sized species of Brachycephalus.
It is overall orange, but with irregular red markings above. The extent of these marking vary greatly; from individuals where there are almost none (they are almost entirely orange throughout) to individuals where the upperparts are almost entirely red. Its specific name pitanga was chosen because it means "red-coloured" in the Tupi–Guarani languages. The bright colours are considered aposematic; although it has not been studied in the red pumpkin toadlet, the closely related and also brightly coloured B. ephippium and B. pernix have tetrodotoxin and similar toxins in their skin and organs.
The red pumpkin toadlet and its close relative B. ephippium have bones that are fluorescent, which is visible through their skin when exposed to UV light. It was initially speculated that the fluorescent colour also is aposematic or that it is related to mate choice (species recognition or determining fitness of a potential partner), but later studies indicate that the former explanation is unlikely, as predation attempts on the toadlets appear to be unaffected by the presence/absence of fluorescence.
