New Amazon Frog Adenomera varcena Described From Floodplain Forests Using DNA and Calls

Field teams surveyed flooded forest fragments near the Moa and Crôa rivers, collecting specimens, recordings, and tissue samples that were compared against museum holdings and sequence databases. The integrative approach separated the new species from congeners by a missing ventral forearm spot and a slower, lower-frequency call, confirming habitat use in seasonally inundated forests previously undocumented for the genus. Cryptic amphibian diversity in the Amazon has accelerated descriptions even as deforestation rates exceed 10,000 km² annually and altered flood pulses threaten reproductive timing. This case illustrates how species can vanish locally before taxonomic recognition, echoing patterns seen in other under-sampled taxa where habitat specialists face compounded climate and land-use pressures. Next steps require targeted surveys across additional floodplain corridors paired with hydrological modeling to test sensitivity to shifted inundation regimes, plus formal protection proposals for remaining intact patches near Cruzeiro do Sul.