In search of the Giant of the Pampas: gathering conservation efforts in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay

CAMILA DEUTSCH; MARIN DA FONTE LF; MANEYRO R; KINDEL A; DALLAGNOL VARGAS N; DUARTE FREIRE M; MARÍA GABRIELA AGOSTINI

FrogLog

FrogLog Editorial Commite

Año: 2018

1026-0269

The Ornate Horned Frog (Ceratophrys ornata) is a threatenedamphibian species that occurs in the South American temperategrasslands (Figs. 1-4). The historical distributionincluded the Pampean Region of Argentina, San José and RochaDepartments in Uruguay, and Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil (1).However, this large range could actually be smaller consideringthat local populations from Argentina have apparently declinedand the species has not been recorded in Uruguay and Brazil forthe last 35 years. Until 2016, published occurrence data in Argentinabased on field surveys undertaken over the last 30 years werescarce, representing only a few localities in the Pampean Region(2,3,4). On the other hand, the most important herpetological collectionsof Argentina hold an important number of specimenscollected between 1898 and 1980 from areas where the species iscurrently rare. In Uruguay, C. ornata was collected for the last timein Valizas (in 1982) and the species also occurred in two additionallocalities: Barra de Santa Lucía (specimens collected in 1970) andLa Coronilla (specimens collected in 1972) (5). In Brazil records arealso scarce, obtained at the southern end of the Brazilian coast inSanta Vitória do Palmar (in 1974, 1976 and 1977) and Rio Grande(in 1979 and 1980) (6,7).Our knowledge of the biology and natural history of C. ornata isdeficient and mostly based on observations. It is a voracious flesheater, feeding on arthropods and small vertebrates (including amphibians)(8) and there are some reports of cannibalism. Duringthe dry season it remains underground, encased in a keratinouscocoon. After staying in this latent condition for a long time, itsuddenly becomes active after storms or floods (9). This period ofactivity is short and hard to predict, making the species difficult tosample and monitor in the field.