Bruno's casque-headed frog

Bruno's casque-headed frog
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Hylidae
Genus: Aparasphenodon
Species: A. brunoi
Binomial name
Aparasphenodon brunoi
Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920

Bruno's casque-headed frog (Aparasphenodon brunoi) is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. Endemic to Brazil, its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, and intermittent freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Unlike most other poison dart frogs which merely secrete venom from their skin, this species is equipped with skull spines capable of injecting venom into other animals or human hands via headbutting, a tactic it shares with Corythomantis greeningi.[2][3] The venom of A. brunoi is estimated to be 25 times as toxic as that of local fer-de-lance pit vipers.[3]

References

  1. da Rocha, C. F.; de Carvalho-e-Silva, S. P.; Van Sluys, M. (2004). "Aparasphenodon brunoi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  2. "Venomous frogs discovered during painful scientific mishap". CBC News. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  3. 1 2 Jared, C.; Mailho-Fontana, P. L.; Antoniazzi, M. M.; Mendes, V. A.; Barbaro, K. C.; Rodrigues, M. T.; Brodie, E. D. (2015-08-06). "Venomous Frogs Use Heads as Weapons". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.061.


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