A team of researchers from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) they discovered in Brazil and flea-toad, considered the second smallest vertebrate in the world, according to a study published this Friday. This specimen of the genus Brachycephalus measures 6.95 millimeters and can rest on a nail.
The study, supported by the Research Support Foundation of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP) and published in the magazine PeerJ, indicates that this new mini-toad is only 0.5 millimeters smaller than a species of the same genus that was previously discovered in southern Bahia.
Although this specimen is similar in appearance to larger toads, the miniaturization process that it has experienced throughout its evolution presents different characteristics, such as fusions, loss of bones and absence of fingers and other parts of its anatomy, explains Luís Felipe Toledo, professor at the Unicamp Institute of Biology and coordinator of the study.
Brachycephalus dacnis is the seventh species of flea toad. described within the genus Brachycephalus, a group best known for its poisonous and brightly colored species, such as golden drop toads or frogs and the pitanga frog.
Although larger than flea toads, goldendrop toads lack certain anatomical structures, like some parts of the inner ear that prevent them from hearing their own singing.
It was precisely the song of the new discovered species that caught the attention of the researchers, because its morphology is the same as that of another species (B. hermogenesi): both have yellowish brown skin, live in the forest, do not have tadpoles (they come out of the eggs walking) and They are found in the same region, although the song is different.