Research reveals high richness of Scinax anurans in the Amazon

Through genes, sounds, colors and shapes, a study reveals that the wealth of tree frogs of the Scinax genus in a region of the Amazon must be 450% greater than currently considered. This is the most impressive estimate ever reported for a Neotropical group of amphibians. The analyzes revealed that 82% of Scinax's regional wealth has not yet been described. Knowledge about amphibian diversity and richness is very important for effective protection of this group's habitat and support for the elaboration of public conservation policies. The collections were carried out along the RAPELD modules of BR 319 and the study is part of the doctoral thesis in Ecology (PG-ECO), by the student Miquéias Ferrão (INPA), under the guidance of the PPBio / INPA researcher Dra Albertina Lima. After this discovery, researchers are working on the description of new species.

 

The research work is an international collaboration between Brazil (INPA / CENBAM) and Czech Republic (National Museum of Prague, with support from researcher Jiri Moravec). Funding from PRONEX - FAPEAM / CNPq (proj. 003/2009, proc. 653/2009), Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and CENBAM.

 

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