Description

Distribution and natural history. Anomaloglossus saramaka sp. nov. is a diurnal species inhabiting the leaf litter in primary forest at low to mid elevations (from 100 to 500 m elevation). The species is usually found close to streams next to which it deposits its exotrophic tadpoles into puddles, but some specimens were found more than 50 m away from water bodies. Males call all day long when the weather is rainy but calling activity is otherwise limited to sunset and sunrise. Breeding occurs during the rainy season, from December to July. The rainfall between December and April being highly variable, the reproduction seems to be concentrated in the second half (May-July) of this period. The males respond to intraspecific playbacks with shorter and more rapidly emitted note trills. Males are territorial, their small territories being spaced at least two meters apart. They usually call slightly above the leaf litter, exposed on a branch or a dead leaf. Eggs are probably deposited under or in the fold of a dead leaf. After hatching, the male carries the tadpoles (up to 9) to a small water body. We observed what appears to be shredding skin with the tadpoles being carried, which could represent food provisioning during transportation, although this remains very speculative.

Common Names

No common names available.

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Amphibia

Order: Anura

Family: Aromobatidae

Genus: Anomaloglossus

Species: Anomaloglossus saramaka Fouquet, Jairam, Ouboter & Kok, 2020