{{Short description|Species of amphibian}} {{Speciesbox | image = Corythomantis greeningi Boulenger, 1896.jpg | image_caption = Drawing from 1896 [[species description]] | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 16 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Diva Borges-Najosa, Gabriel Skuk |date=2004 |title=''Corythomantis greeningi'' |volume=2004 |article-number=e.T55303A11286222 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T55303A11286222.en |access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Corythomantis greeningi | authority = [[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger]], 1896 | synonyms = {{collapsible list | {{plainlist | style = margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; | *''Corythomantis schubarti'' <small>Miranda-Ribeiro, 1937</small> *''Corythomantis schubarthae'' <small>Lutz, 1968</small> }} }} }}
'''''Corythomantis greeningi''''', occasionally called '''Greening's frog''',<ref name=Halliday/> is a [[venomous]]<ref name=3news>{{cite web |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/world/biologist-discovers-venomous-frog-the-hard-way-2015080612 |title=''Biologist discovers venomous frog the hard way'' |last=Satherley |first=Dan |year=2015 |access-date=7 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820113226/http://www.3news.co.nz/world/biologist-discovers-venomous-frog-the-hard-way-2015080612 |archive-date=20 August 2015 }}</ref> [[frog]] [[species]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Hylidae]] [[endemic]] to eastern [[Brazil]],<ref name=frost>{{cite web |url=http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/Amphibia/Anura/Hylidae/Hylinae/Corythomantis/Corythomantis-greeningi |title=''Corythomantis greeningi'' Boulenger, 1896 |last=Frost|first=Darrel R. |year=2014 |work=Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 |publisher=American Museum of Natural History |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> where it lives in the [[Caatinga]] [[habitat]]. It is usually situated on vegetation, including in [[bromeliad]]s, and on rock outcrops. Breeding occurs in temporary streams. Although suffering from [[habitat loss]], it is not considered threatened by the [[IUCN]].<ref name="iucn status 16 November 2021" /> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''greeningi'' was in honour of Linnaeus Greening (1855–1927), an English businessman and naturalist known for his work on arachnids, reptiles and amphibians.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Beolens, Bo|author2=Watkins, Michael |author3=Grayson, Michael |name-list-style=amp |title=The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJY3BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |year=2009 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-9533-3 |page=84}}</ref>
==Description== Female ''Corythomantis greeningi'' grow to a length of about {{convert|87|mm|in|1|abbr=on}} while males are slightly smaller at {{convert|71|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}. The head is narrow, with bony crests behind the eyes and a long flat snout, armed with small spines. The body is slender, the skin being covered with warts. The legs are also slender and the fingers and toes have well-developed adhesive discs at the tip. The general color is light brown or gray, liberally blotched with red or brown patches; females are generally darker in color than males.<ref name=Halliday>{{cite book|author=Halliday, Tim|title=The Book of Frogs: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from Around the World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0SjDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 |year=2016 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-18465-4 |page=284}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Corythomantis greeningi'' is [[Endemism|endemic]] to northeastern Brazil. Its range extends as far south as the northern part of [[Minas Gerais]] state. It inhabits a [[caatinga]] ecoregion, a semi-desert vegetation of [[Deserts and xeric shrublands|shrublands]] and [[thorn forest]].<ref name="iucn status 16 November 2021" /> This experiences a short wet season, lasting about three months, and a long hot dry season.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Caatinga of North-Eastern Brazil|encyclopedia=Centres of Plant Diversity |publisher=Smithsonian Institution|url=http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/sa/sa19.htm|last=Lleras|first=Eduardo|volume=3: The Americas |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172623/http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/sa/sa19.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>
==Ecology== With a need to keep its skin moist and as a protection against predators, ''C. greeningi'' conceals itself in a tree hollow, a rock crevice, a [[Bromeliaceae|bromeliad]] or other suitable location. In the laboratory, a female frog used a [[test tube]] for a retreat, sealing off the aperture with its head. In their natural habitat, when the rainy season starts and the creeks and channels run with water, male frogs establish territories near the watercourses and call to attract females. Several hundred eggs are laid by the female, attached to a rock in the watercourse.<ref name=Halliday/>
This frog has evolved certain adaptations to enable it to live in a semi-arid environment. The head is roughened and flat, and the skin of the head is fused to the skull forming a casque; these features are often associated with [[Phragmosis|phragmotic]] behaviour, in which an animal defends itself in a burrow by using its own body as a barrier. It has adapted its life cycle and method of reproduction to suit its environment.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jared Carlos |author2=Antoniazzi, Marta Maria |author3=Katchburian, Eduardo |author4=Toledo, Reynaldo Cicero |author5=Freymüller, Edna |year=1999 |title=Some aspects of the natural history of the casque-headed tree frog ''Corythomantis greeningi'' Boulenger (Hylidae) |journal= Annales des Sciences Naturelles - Zoologie et Biologie Animale|volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=105–115 |doi=10.1016/S0003-4339(00)86975-0 }}</ref> It also has a tough, impermeable skin which helps limit water loss, and a low [[basal metabolic rate]] which limits evaporation through its lungs.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Andrade, Denis Vieira |author2=Abe, Augusta Shinya |year=1997 |title=Evaporative Water Loss and Oxygen Uptake in Two Casque-Headed Tree Frogs, ''Apmasphenodon brunei'' and ''Corythommtis greeningi'' (Anura, Hylidae) |journal= Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology|volume= 118|issue=3 |pages=685–689|doi=10.1016/S0300-9629(96)00481-1 |pmid=9406443 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/13824672 }}</ref> Unlike [[poison dart frog]]s which merely secrete poison 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 ''[[Nyctimantis brunoi]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/venom-frogs-1.3182922 |title= Venomous frogs discovered during painful scientific mishap |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=2015-08-07 |access-date=2015-08-07}}</ref><ref name="Jared2015">{{cite journal|last1=Jared|first1=C.|last2=Mailho-Fontana|first2=P. L.|last3=Antoniazzi|first3=M. M.|last4=Mendes|first4=V. A.|last5=Barbaro|first5=K. C.|last6=Rodrigues|first6=M. T.|last7=Brodie|first7=E. D.|title=Venomous Frogs Use Heads as Weapons|journal=Current Biology|date=2015-08-06|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.061|volume=25|issue=16|pages=2166–2170|pmid=26255851|doi-access=free}}</ref>
The skin secretions contain a number of low-molecular mass [[steroid]]s and [[alkaloid]]s. In the laboratory, these produce a powerful [[Nociception|nociceptive]] (painful) effect and cause [[oedema]] in mice cells. The secretions also inhibit cell growth in mouse [[fibroblast]]s and [[melanoma]] cells. In the wild, these provide a useful arsenal of chemical defences against [[predation]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mendes, Vanessa A. |author2=Barbaro, Katia C. |author3=Sciani, Juliana M. |author4=Vassão, Ruth C. |author5=Pimenta, Daniel C. |author6=Jared, Carlos |author7=Antoniazzi, Marta M. |year=2016 |title=The cutaneous secretion of the casque-headed tree frog ''Corythomantis greeningi'': Biochemical characterization and some biological effects |journal=Toxicon |volume=122|pages=133–141 |doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2016.10.004 |pmid=27720761 }}</ref>
==Status== This frog has a wide range and is a common species with a large total population. The main threats it faces include habitat loss from livestock grazing and crop cultivation, and the occurrence of wildfires. The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] has rated its conservation status as being of "[[Least-concern species|least concern]]", because any decrease in population size is likely to be at too slow a rate to justify classifying it in a more threatened category.<ref name="iucn status 16 November 2021" />
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{Wikispecies-inline|Corythomantis greeningi|''Corythomantis greeningi''}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2700678}}
[[Category:Corythomantis]] [[Category:Fauna of the Caatinga]] [[Category:Endemic frogs of Brazil]] [[Category:Venomous vertebrates]] [[Category:Amphibians described in 1896]] [[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]] [[Category:Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger]]