Painted tree frog (Aparasphenodon pomba)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 162513235

Natural history and conservation of Aparasphenodon pomba (Amphibia, Anura): A critically endangered species from Brazil

Aparasphenodon pomba is a species recently described in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This species is only found in a small forest fragment not legally protected, inhabiting bamboo groves in the interior of the forest. Its conservation status has not been established yet by IUCN, however, this species is classified as critically endangered in the Brazilian list of species threatened by extinction. In our project, we are searching for new occurrence areas for A. pomba, identifying any factors/agents possibly impacting this species, and also gathering natural history data about it. We have searched many other localities in the neighboring region that possesses similar environmental characteristics to the type locality, however, until now we found no evidences of new populations. Visiting the type locality, we found out the property in which the species was described and occur is involved in a judicial cause, and the property may be divided to different owners. This may cause severe impacts in the area, especially vegetation loss. In fact, this fragment is already suffering impacts by illegal logging, burning and cattle activity. During the rainy season we did not observe any specimen of A. pomba, but we heard its vocalization twice in the type locality. We collected tadpoles in the puddles near to the type locality but we did not find any specimens belonging to this species. Aparasphenodon pomba seems to be a rare species, being hardly found in nature, and very demanding about microhabitat and other environmental conditions to its reproduction.