Thoropa miliaris

SUBFAMILY

Cyclorampinae

TAXONOMY

Rana miliaris Spix, 1824, "Amazon River" (in error).

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Males attain a maximum snout-vent length of 2.8 in (71 mm) and females, 3.2 in (81 mm). The head is broad with a rounded snout and large, distinct tympanum. The skin of the dorsum is smooth to weakly granular with scattered tubercles; the venter is smooth. The fingers and toes lack webbing and have slightly swollen tips. Breeding males lack vocal slits but have small nuptial spines on the thumb and first and second fingers. The dorsum is tan or brown, and the groin is dull yellow; the throat and belly are gray and the anterior and posterior surfaces of the thighs are dull yellow with dark brown bars. The iris is reddish copper with black reticulations.

DISTRIBUTION

Thoropa miliaris ranges in the Atlantic Coast Forest from Espírito Santa to São Paulo in southeastern Brazil.

HABITAT

This species inhabits humid tropical and subtropical forests.

BEHAVIOR

This species is nocturnal and terrestrial and is most common along streams.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Presumably the diet includes small arthropods.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Males call from rock faces along streams; the call is a short, pulsed, low-pitched note. Eggs are deposited in streams. Tadpoles wriggle onto wet rocks faces. They have depressed bodies, long and muscular tails without noticeable fins, and ventrally directed oral discs with slender jaw sheaths and two anterior and three posterior rows of labial teeth.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Although not listed by the IUCN, this species is threatened by habitat destruction.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.