Flea Toads
Brachycephalus
Saddleback toads are members of the genus Brachycephalus, being very small anurans in the family Brachycephalidae. The genus is further divided into two species groups: the pumpkin toadlets and the flea frogs (or flea toads; once placed in genus Psyllophryne). Some pumpkin toadlets are toxic; their often bright colours are thus considered aposematic. In contrast, the overall brown and more frog-like flea frogs are some of the smallest frogs in the world, measuring around 1 cm (0.4 in) in snout–vent length.
The saddleback toads live among leaf litter in the Atlantic rainforest of southern Bahia to Santa Catarina in southeastern Brazil, ranging from near sea level to an altitude of 1,900 m (6,200 ft), with most species restricted to highland cloud forest. They are mostly diurnal, feeding on leaf-litter invertebrates and breeding through direct development, with eggs laid on land and hatching into young frogs, without a tadpole stage.
44 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 44 known species
Brachycephalus rotenbergae
speciesBrachycephalus rotenbergae
Pumpkin Toadlet
speciesBrachycephalus ephippium
Vargem Alta Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus alipioi
Santa Virgínia Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus pitanga
Serra Cantareira Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus nodoterga
Pearly Pumpkin Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus margaritatus
Flea-frog
speciesBrachycephalus hermogenesi
Brachycephalus clarissae
speciesBrachycephalus clarissae
Yellow-blotched Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus sulfuratus
White-lined Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus albolineatus
Serra da Bocaina Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus vertebralis
Serra do Mar Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus crispus
Brachycephalus ibitinga
speciesBrachycephalus ibitinga
Morro Prumirim Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus guarani
Brachycephalus herculeus
speciesBrachycephalus herculeus
Morro do Corcovado Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus toby
Darkside Pumpkin Toadlet
speciesBrachycephalus darkside
Morro do Baú Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus fuscolineatus
Pumpkin Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus garbeanus
Morro Anhangava Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus pernix
Serra de Macaé Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus bufonoides
Brachycephalus dacnis
speciesBrachycephalus dacnis
Brazilian Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus pulex
Serra do Araçatuba Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus leopardus
Brachycephalus mirissimus
speciesBrachycephalus mirissimus
Izecksohn's Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus didactylus
Caparaó Flea-toad
speciesBrachycephalus puri
Brachycephalus tabuleiro
speciesBrachycephalus tabuleiro
Morro da Tromba Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus verrucosus
Serra do Morato Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus tridactylus
Morro do Cachorro Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus boticario
Pedra da Tartaruga Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus auroguttatus
Pico Caratuva Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus brunneus
Brachycephalus coloratus
speciesBrachycephalus coloratus
Brachycephalus curupira
speciesBrachycephalus curupira
Pico Marumbi Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus ferruginus
Pico Caratuva Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus izecksohni
Serra Queimada Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus mariaeterezae
Olive-backed Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus olivaceus
Morro dos Padres Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus pombali
Serra do Quiriri Flea Toad
speciesBrachycephalus quiririensis
Brachycephalus actaeus
speciesBrachycephalus actaeus
Brachycephalus nanicus
speciesBrachycephalus nanicus
Brachycephalus lulai
speciesBrachycephalus lulai
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Brachycephalus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 24486.