Diagnosis A globulous frog with very short hindlimbs and forelimbs and toes unwebbed. Mottled and spotted dorsal pattern without the irregular arsow-shaped mark.

Body stout, globular, with a snout-vent length of about 40-50 mm. This species is sexually dimorphic, with females tending to be larger than males. Head very small. Nuchal fold present. Tympanum concealed. Foreleg short, reaching the middle of the body when adpressed. Hindleg very short. Fingers and toes roundish and free. Skin smooth. Olive-brown above, spotted with dorsal and lateral dark irregular blotches, belly dark scattered with pale yellow spots (Parker 1934; Cochran 1955; Cei 1980). This species releases a whitish skin secretion that can have antiparasitic and antifungal activities (Tempone et al. 2007).

The tadpole has no nares. The snout is rounded and truncate, and the body is rounded dorsally and depressed laterally. Eyes are lateral and small. The oral disc is absent, and keratinized mouthparts and papillae are both lacking. A dermal flap is present in front of the mouth, but the flap does not have jagged edges. The spiracle is ventral, as well as long and wide. The vent is short and medial and fused with the ventral fin. Both dorsal and ventral fins are low and convex. Dorsal fin rises at a low slope from the body-tail junction. Tail sheath is present. The tadpole is reddish-brown in dorsal view and whitish in ventral view, with translucent, slightly pigmented fins (Rossa-Feres and Nomura 2006). A detailed description of the tadpole's external morphology can be found in Vizotto (1967), Cei (1980), Lavilla (1992), Altig and McDiarmid (1999), and Rossa-Feres and Nomura (2006), with the latter commenting on some of the discrepancies between larval morphology descriptions by different authors. A description of the chondrocranium can be found in Lavilla (1992). The internal oral morphology was described by Echeverría and Lavilla (2000).

This species is known from central and southern Chaco: northern Argentina; southeastern Bolivia; Paraguay; and Brazil (from Maranhão to São Paulo). It occurs at elevations up to 1,500m asl.

Chile central (Concepcion)

Chacoan regions of Argentina (provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, Misiones, Salta, Santiago del Estero, and Santa Fé) and Paraguay (department of Alto Paraguay, Boquerón, Central, Concepción, and Presidente Hayes); caatinga and cerrado regions of brazilian states of central northeast, and southeast.

This species is found in Paraguay; Corrientes and central and southern Chaco provinces in Argentina; the states of São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Ceará, Tocantins, Bahia, Maranhão, Piauí, Paraíba, in Brazil; and Southeastern Bolivia (IUCN 2006). Dermatonotus muelleri generally lives in open formations, though occasionally it can be found inside forest fragments (Silva and Rossa-Feres 2007) and near man-made facilities in urban areas (Ávila and Ferreira 2004). It occurs at elevations up to 1,500 m above sea level (IUCN 2006).

Description Body stout, globular snout-vent of about 40-50 mm. Head very small, 1/6 of the body length; snout sharply pointed, protruding over the lower jaw. No vomerine teeth. A nucal fold encircling the tympanic area and the lateral parts of the throat. Interocular distance about twice the upper eyelid, and equal to the distance between the anterior corner of the eye and the snout. Nostrils lateral, close to the tip of snout. The eye diameter equal to the distance between eye and nostril. Tympanum concealed. No thoracic fold. Foreleg short, reaching middle of the body when adpressed. Hindleg very short; when is adpressed, heel does not cross the axilla. When the femurs are bent at right angles to body, the tibio-tarsal articulations do not touch. Fingers and toes roundish, free. Rate of the finger lengths: IV,I, II, III. Three metacarpal tubercles; inner metatarsal tubercle present, outer tubercle absent. Strong subarticular tubercles. Skin smooth, broad skin folds covering the femurs. Olive-brown above, spotted with dorsal and lateral dark irregular blotches; belly dark, scattered with pale yellow spots. Larval morphology Tadpoles are characterized by: total length 32.5-40.1 mm (n = 10); body depressed (depth less than width; mean ratio = 0.84; SD = 0.03), and oval (subparallel sides) in dorsal view. Maximum width coincident with body width at eye level. Snout rounded dorsally and laterally. Ventral contour of body convex. Mouth terminal, small (mean ratio labila flaps width/maximum body width = 0.35; SD = 0.02); margins of labial flaps smooth, with convergent medial borders. External nares closed at early stages. Eyes small (mean ratio eye diameterlbody width at eye level = 0.15; SD = 0.01), and placed laterally but oriented lateroventrally (the eyes are scarcely visible dorsally). The spiraculum is abdominal, placed on midline, and is projected, covering the proctodeal tube (mean ratio rostro-spiracular distance (body length = 1.04; SD = 0.01). Proctodeal tube ("anus") as a short, conical tube, with rounded aperture medially oriented. Tail large (mean ratio tail lengthltotal length = 0.62; SD = 0.03). Both fins higher than body (mean ratio fins heightlbody height = 1.37; SD = 0.04). Dorsal fin starts on the border bodyltail muscles and is divergent on the anterior half; ventral fin uniformly curved; tip as a short flagellum. The most peculiar character is the presence of a relatively thick sheet of connective tissue that covers the anterior half of tail musculature and runs into the dorsal and ventral fins. Color in life: dorsally olive-brown with a thin, medial, white band, from the tip of the snout to mid-body; laterally lighter; ventrally whitish, somewhat translucent but not transparent. Tail smoky, with irregular, white spots.

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial
• Freshwater

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species. 

 
There is 1 barcode sequence available from BOLD and GenBank.   Below is the sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen.  Other sequences that do not yet meet barcode criteria may also be available.
 

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Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Species: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1

ALCALÓIDE

LC. Least Concern.

Population

Population Trend

Like other microhylid frogs, it lives below ground. It feeds on termites and Isoptera. This species is an explosive breeder (Wells 1977), with reproduction occurring from September-November through February. Frequently, the breeding activity lasts 5 days. During the breeding period, the abundance of calling males can reach one thousand individuals. Oviposition takes place in water bodies (sometimes in farm ponds) in the shallows, with or without vegetation. A detailed description of the natural history and reproductive biology of this species can be found in Nomura (2003).

The tadpole is exotrophic and a suspension feeder, consuming algae (Baccilariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Dinophyceae). Euglenoids have also been found alive and undamaged in the intestinal contents of D. muelleri tadpoles (Echeverría and Conforti 2000).

Adults may be eaten by marsupials, birds, dogs, and snakes (Nomura 2003).

Major Threats

The population appears to be stable. This is a common species within its range, though generally hard to find due to its burrowing habits (IUCN 2006).

Conservation Actions

There are some breeding facilities that sell this species as a pet.