#aphibians

Pumpkin Toadlet (Brachycephalus ephippium)

Family: Brachycephalidae (Flea Toad Family)

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

This tiny, brightly-coloured frog is found only in Southeastern Brazil where it inhabits humid montane forests and lives among the leaf litter on the forest floor. Reaching an average length of 18mm it is one of the smallest frogs in the world, and as such it feeds on only the smallest arthropods, particularly springtails (small, superficially insect-like arthropods that primarily live in soil.) During the breeding season, which lasts from October to March, male Pumpkin Toadlets carry out elaborate courtship displays by lifting their heads, inflating a pouch under their chins and producing a high-pitched call comparable to the buzzing of cicadas, although bizarrely females lack the range of hearing to actually detect the males’ calls and seem to select a partner based solely on the visual elements of the display. Female Pumpkin Toadlets lay their eggs on the forest floor and roll them in soil to help them blend in with their surroundings, and around 64 days later the eggs hatch as small yet fully-developed frogs (making the Pumpkin Toadlet one of the only species of frog that does not begin life as a tadpole, and one of the only amphibians that does not require a source of water to breed.) Although they are born with brown skin to help them camouflage with leaf litter, the young toadlets eventually develop the ability to secrete a potent toxin from their skin when threatened, and once they are able to produce these poisons they take on the bright orange colouration seen in adults to warn potential predators of their toxicity.