Brazilian Horned Frog

Maximum longevity: 12.8 years (captivity)

Present from Bahia State southward to north of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Associated to Atlantic rain forest.

Adult morphology A big species (until 23 mm snout-vent length). Vomerine teeth in two small, slanting, widely separated patches on the inner border of the choanae; tongue rounded, very slightly indented on its free posterior border, about one-half the width of mouthopening; snout fairly long, rounded when seen from above, sloping forwards in profile, the upper jaw slightly projecting beyond the lower; nostrils superior, scarcely projecting, situated on the sharply ridged, straight canthus rostralis three-fifths of the distance from snout tip to eye, separated from each other by an interval a little greater than their distance from eye; loreal region concave and sloping outwards. Eye quite small but prominent, anterolateral, its diameter equal to its distance from nostril; interorbital diameter 1 1/2 times the width of upper eyelid (minus the horn), equal to interval between nostrils. Tympanum very distinct, separated from eye by an interval equal to 1/4 times its greatest diameter. Fingers free, with dermal ridges along their sides, their tips not dilated, fourth much longer than second, first slightly longer than second; two heavy rounded tubercles on palm and on base of first finger; toes webbed at the base, not dilated, fifth a little longer than third; a large shovellike inner metatarsal tubercle; outer tubercle greatly reduced in size; a very heavy inner tarsal ridge beginning above shovellike tubercle and ending before the heel. Body very stout, in postaxillary region as wide as the very broad head; when hind leg is adpressed, heel reaches to axilla; when limbs are laid along the sides, knee and elbow are widely separated; when hind legs are laid at right angles to the body, heels fail to meet. Skin of upper parts heavily glandular, with distinct ridges bordering the dark dorsal spots on the bony shield; blunt tubercles on posterior part of back and on the sides; venter nearly smooth, with faint glandular patches on sides behind axillae ; a heavy, bony ridge along upper lip border, bifurcating below loreal region and sending its upper branch to the supratympanic region, lower branch continuing to corner of mouth; another less distinct ridge below eye, and another from nostril forward to upper lip ridge; eyelid with a single short dermal horn. No apparent skinfold across throat. Color in alcohol: dorsum slate-gray, with a pair of roughly crescentic dark brown spots behind the eyes extending across the lateral processes of the dorsal shield, and another pair outlining the posterior part of the shield; several irregular dark brown spots and bars on sides and posterior part of back, the most prominent being the one from the posterior tympanic border, fading out on the sides; a dark diagonals or below eye; a large, somewhat triangular spot on the loreal region and in front of eye, and a dark streak along the ridge from nostrils to end of snout; posterior femur heavily marbled with brown on slate color, and upper femur and legs heavily marked by two wide, dark crossbands; a single dark crossband on forearm. Venter ochre yellow, the throat black. Color in life: Iris metallic gold to silver. Dorsum light brown with dark brown or black spts ringed with gray, central green dorsal stripe, legs banded green and brown above. Larval morphology Spiracle sinistral; anus median, separate from tail fin, lying to left or right of fin; mouthparts anteriorly directed; oral disk not emarginate, single row of marginal papillae interrupted anteriorly; denticle formula 7-8(5-8)/8-9 (1-6); overall habitus stout, that of pond dwelling carnivorous tadpole

LC. Least Concern. DD. Data Deficient, in the Livro vemelho da fauna ameaçada no estado do Paraná. VU. Vulnerable, in the "Livro vermelho da fauna ameaçada de extinção no Rio Grande do Sul". "Em Perigo", in the "Livro vermelho das espécies ameaçadas de extinção da fauna de Minas Gerais".

Ceratophrys aurita (Raddi)

MATERIAL.—USNM 241298 (one specimen dissected, stage 31, SVL 16.3 mm). Collected from a temporary pond at Fazenda do Veado, Serra da Bocaina, São Paulo, Brazil, 3 January 1977, by W.R. Heyer.

REFERENCE.—The external morphology of this tadpole has not been described previously. Briefly: spiracle sinistral; anus median, separate from tail fin, lying to left or right of fin; mouthparts anteriorly directed; oral disk not emarginate, single row of marginal papillae interrupted anteriorly; denticle formula 7–8 (5–8)/8–9 (1–6); overall habitus stout, that of pond dwelling carnivorous tadpole (Orton, 1953).

GENERAL MATERIAL.—USNM 241308 (one specimen dissected, stage 30, SVL 7.8 mm). Collected from an arboreal bromeliad at Santa Tereza, Espírito Santo, Brazil, 9 October 1980, by E. Izecksohn and O.L. Peixoto.

REFERENCES.—Peixoto (1981) described and figured the external morphology and provided habitat data for this species as C. pintoi. Later, Peixoto (1983) determined that the description pertains to either C. bokermanni or izecksohni, not pintoi.

GENERAL

The Brazilian horned frog (Ceratophrys aurita) is a species of frog in the family Ceratophryidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and ponds.