In Photos: Teeny-Tiny Frogs Found in Brazil

News
By
published

Seven new species of miniature frogs, each fitting onto the tip of a thumb, have come out of hiding in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, scientists report in the journal PeerJ. The teeny-tiny frogs live on isolated mountaintops in cloud forests. Here's a look at the colorful cuties. [Read full story on the tiny frogs from Brazil]

Blue baby

Brachycephalus mariaeterezae. The intensity of the light of the flash during photography led the light-blue coloration along their vertebral column to become less apparent.

Dark stripe

Warty!

This frog has warts: Brachycephalus verrucosus has orange-hued skin covered with brownish-green bumps. An adult female of the species was collected on Jan. 25, 2011, at Morro da Tromba, municipality of Joinville, in the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.

Frog spots

Piggybacking

Hiding out

Olive skin

Sky island

Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. 

Jeanna Bryner
Managing editor, Scientific American

Jeanna Bryner is managing editor of Scientific American. Previously she was editor in chief of Live Science and, prior to that, an editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Bryner has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species, including the gorgeous Florida Scrub Jay. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is a firm believer that science is for everyone and that just about everything can be viewed through the lens of science.