Description
Ameerega munduruku is a dendrobatid frog with a snout-vent length range for males of 24.87 – 27.33 mm and a range for females of 20.42 – 28.59 mm. The snout, with posterolaterally-facing nares at the tip, appears blunt from the dorsal and ventral view, and protuding in the lateral view. The nares are visible when viewed straight on or in the ventral view but are not visible in the dorsal view. The canthus rostralis is slightly concave and sloped. The eyes are large with round, horizontally-elongated pupils. The circular tympanum is slightly larger than half the diameter of the eye. The tympanum is indistinct in the posterodorsal portion, but distinct in the lower region. There is no supratympanic fold. Males have vocal slits. The skin on the dorsum of the body is granular, while the dorsal surface of the hindlimbs is less granular and the dorsal surfaces of the head and forelimbs are smooth. The ventrum is also smooth (Neves et al. 2017).

The hands are relatively small, approximately 23% of the snout-vent length. The outer metacarpal tubercle is a large, oval, and located at the median base of the palm. The inner metacarpal tubercle is smaller and located at the base of finger I. The relative finger lengths of adpressed fingers is IV < II < III = I. Fingers III and IV each have two well-developed subarticular tubercles, while fingers I and II have one well-developed subarticular tubercle each and finger I has an additional intercalary tubercle. The fingers end in well-developed, moderately expanded discs. The tibia is slightly less than half the snout-vent length. There are no tarsal tubercles. The outer metatarsal tubercle is well-developed and circular while the inner metatarsal tubercle is larger and ovoid. The relative length of adpressed toes is I < II < V < III < IV. Toes I and II each have one subarticular tubercle, toes III and V have two, and toe IV has three. Webbing and lateral fringes are absent from both the hands and feet (Neves et al. 2017).

A solid black dorsum differentiates A. munduruku from A. boliviana, A. bassleri, A. berohoka, A. boehmei, A. braccata, A. favopicta, A. pepperi, A. silverstonei, A. yoshina, and A. yungicola. White ventral coloration with black vermicular blotches (including on the thighs) distinguishes A. munduruku from A. altamazonica, A. berohoka, A. cainarachi, A. hahneli, A. ignipedis, A. macero, A. petersi, A. picta A. pulchripecta, A. rubriventris, and A. trivittata. The presence of a complete cream labial stripe in A. munduruku distinguishes it from A. picta and A. trivittata. An orange stripe in the axillar region in A. munduruku distinguishes it from A. andina, A. hahneli, and A. ingeri. Ameerega munduruku is larger than A. berohoka and A. braccata, but smaller than A. silverstonei and A. trivittata. Small hands also differentiate A. munduruku from A. picta. Lastly, A. munduruku’s lightly granular dorsal skin differentiates it from A. macero, which is strongly granular (Neves et al. 2017).

With regards to advertisement call, A. munduruku has a single harmonic note that differentiates it from A. berohoka, A. boehmei, A. braccata, and A. flavopicta. The dominate frequency of A. munduruku is lower than A. altamazonica, A. berohoka, A. braccata, and A. picta, and is higher than A. boehmei. Ameerega munduruku’s call duration is longer than A. braccata, A. hahneli, and A. picta (Neves et al. 2017).

In life, the dorsum is black with a cream or yellow dorsolateral stripe extending from the tip of the snout above the eyelid to the inguinal region. There is also a cream labial strip that extends beyond the tip of the upper jaw to the forelimb. The dorsal side of the limbs appears brown with some dark blotches on hands. There is a brightly colored orange signal spot in the axillary region and inner calf, and a brightly colored orange stripe on the inguinal region of the outer thighs. The flanks are black above bordered by the ventral color and patterning below. The ventrum is white with black vermicular blotches that extend over the entire ventral surface, including the fore- and hindlimbs. The irises are metallic gold. In preservative, the dorsolateral and labial stripes are faded, the orange coloration is much less bright and obvious, and the eyes are dulled to grey (Neves et al. 2017).

Females lack vocal slits. Otherwise, there is little to no morphological variation (Neves et al. 2017).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Brazil

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

At the time of the species description, A. munduruku was only known from two localities in the Amazon forest of Brazil around the Teles Pires River in the Jacareacanga Municipality of the state of Pará and Paranaíta Municipality in Mato Grosso State. They have been found in the Mato Grosso Seasonal Forest and Madeira-Tapajós Moist Forest (Neves et al. 2017).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Ameerega munduruku is diurnal and terrestrial. Individuals were found both in forests and in glades within forests that contained rock outcrops near water bodies. They could be found on fallen trees, in leaf litter, and on rocks (Neves et al. 2017).

Males began to emit their advertisement call around 9:30 in the morning from herbaceous vegetation that was approximately 30 cm above the ground. The calls consisted of a single, high pitched harmonic note with a duration of 0.113 – 0.116 s, an intercall inverval of 0. 096– 0. 639 s, and a dominate frequency between 3,445.3 - 3,617.6 Hz (Neves et al. 2017).

One male was observed carrying about nine tadpoles on his back in the wet season (Neves et al. 2017).

Ameerega munduruku can be found in sympatry with Adenomera sp. and Allobates tapajos (Neves et al. 2017).

Trends and Threats
The species authority did not note any trends or threats to A. munduruku. They did note that the species was easily found in their known localities (Neves et al. 2017). But an assessment is needed to determine the species' threat status.

Comments
The species authority is: Neves, M. O., Da Silva, L. A., Akieda, P. S., Cabrera, R., Koroiva, R., Santana, D. J. (2017) “A new species of poison frog, genus Ameerega (Anura: Dendrobatidae), from the southern Amazonian rain forest” Salamandra, 53(4), 485-493.

Analysis of 476 base pairs of 16S rRNA at the time of the species’ description indicated that A. munduruku was most genetically similar to A. flavopicta (Neves et al. 2017). However, Maximum Likelihood analysis on 5060 ultraconserved genomic elements found A. munduruku to be the sister taxon of A. braccata. Together, they are sister to the clade composed of A. flavopicta and A. berohoka (Guillory et al. 2020).

Ameerega munduruku is the only known species in the A. braccata species group to be found in wet forest environments, where they can be found on rocky outcrops (Guillory et al. 2020).

The species epithet, “munduruku” is a reference to the Munduruku ethnic group that live in the region where the species is found (Neves et al. 2017).

As is the case with many other species in the genus Ameerega, A. munduruku is aposematic in life (Neves et al. 2017).

References

Guillory, W. X., French, C. M., Twomey, E. M., Chávez, G., Prates, I., von May, R., De la Riva, I., Lötters, S., Reichle, S., Serrano-Rojas, S. J., Whitworth, A., Brown, J. L. (2020). ''Phylogenetic relationships and systematics of the Amazonian poison frog fenus Ameerega using ultraconserved genomic elements.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 142, 106638. [link]

Neves, M. O., Da Silva, L. A., Akieda, P. S., Cabrera, R., Koroiva, R., Santana, D. J (2017). ''A new species of poison frog, genus Ameerega (Anura: Dendrobatidae), from the southern Amazonian rain forest.'' Salamandra, 53(4), 485-493. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2020 Ameerega munduruku <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/8769> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 21, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 21 Nov 2024.

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