A new species of glass frog has been described and named Vitreorana micaelae following its discovery in Luziânia, in the state of Goiás. The study was conducted by researchers at the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás, the Federal University of Goiás, and the University of Brasília (UnB).

The small, greenish, nearly transparent frog caught the attention of a group of researchers led by biologist Wilian Vaz-Silva in the gallery forests bordering small tributaries of the Corumbá River in the Cerrado biome. Although it resembled other known species, the researchers decided to investigate further.

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“After these animals were found and their calls recorded, we began evaluating and comparing them with other groups of glass frogs, because glass frogs are generally more restricted to the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon,” says biologist Reuber Brandão, one of the study’s authors and a member of the Boticário Group Foundation’s Network of Experts in Nature Conservation.

Species

Based on an integrated approach involving different fields of knowledge - morphology, bioacoustics, molecular genetics, and fieldwork - the researchers concluded that this was the 11th species in the glass frog genus. Only four species are found in Brazil, and Vitreorana micaelae is the second species known to occur exclusively in the Cerrado.

According to Brandão, in addition to molecular characteristics that distinguish the species from those already known to science, unique traits were identified in the individuals analyzed. “From a bioacoustic perspective, it is an animal with far fewer vocal notes. It has subtle but consistent differences in the shape of the iris, dorsal pigmentation, and morphology, especially in the region near the cloaca [the terminal opening for excretion and reproduction],” he explains.

The researchers report that the limited knowledge about the species - even among the local Community - is due to the habits of Vitreorana micaelae.

“This creature sings from the tops of trees along steep ravines on the riverbank, and only when it’s raining heavily. So, even for us, who are out in the field searching for these animals, it takes time to find populations in the region,” he points out.

This difficulty in accessing the species, combined with its small size - just over 2 centimeters - and the scattered occurrence of individuals, has prevented it from being associated with a common name already used by local communities.

“People have more common names for amphibians with more noticeable calls, such as the blacksmith tree frog and the barking dwarf frog. These are species that, when you go looking for them, aren’t what people typically think of as frogs - they’re tree frogs or tiny frogs,” says Brandão.

Previous report

During the study, the researchers were also able to better understand the species’ reproductive biology, which is quite similar to that of other species in the same Vitreorana group.

“The pair lays its eggs on the leaves of tall trees. The eggs stick to the leaves, and the male takes care of them. After hatching, the tadpoles fall into the stream below, where they burrow into the sediment,” he notes.

This similarity may have led other researchers who reported sightings of individuals in this region of the Cerrado in 2013 to identify them as a previously described species. “They identified them as Vitreorana eurygnatha and did not realize that it was a new species,” the researcher says.

Classification

The study describing the species was published in the September issue of the scientific journal ZooKeys and recommends that Vitreorana micaelae be classified as Data Deficient (DD) under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) system, due to the need to determine its population size and the threats it faces.

“Following that study, we’ve already identified another location in the Cerrado where the species is present. So far, there are three known locations, but this is new information. It’s currently being studied and hasn’t been published yet,” Brandão adds.

The name chosen for the species reflects the collaboration among the scientists who worked on the study. It honors fellow biologist Micaela de Jolepian L. Vaz, the wife of Wilian Vaz-Silva.

Threat

This joint effort is a race against time, as climate change - which alters the water cycle - and human activities in the Cerrado, including deforestation and the damming of rivers for small hydroelectric plants, directly affect the habitats of amphibians such as the tiny Vitreorana micaelae.

These threats could lead to the extinction of species that have not yet been discovered by science. “Less rain, fewer streams, fewer toads and frogs, and fewer discoveries,” Reuber Brandão concludes.

Small in size but vast in its capacity to sustain life, the Pantanal is the biome most influenced by neighboring ecosystems and borders the Cerrado, the Amazon, and the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, as well as the Chaco and Bosque Chiquitano in Bolivia and Paraguay.

This characteristic makes the Pantanal a vast reservoir of water and life, with water flowing long distances to reach the world’s largest floodplain. The diversity created by the convergence of these waters gives the region its natural beauty, but also makes it more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

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“It is a plain that depends on what happens in other biomes and is affected by the changes taking place across the region, especially as climate change also impacts the surrounding areas,” says Cyntia Santos, a conservation analyst at WWF-Brazil.

According to data from the latest land use and land cover map released by MapBiomas, the Pantanal’s flooded savanna had lost more than 1 million hectares by 2025 compared with the beginning of the historical record in 1985.

The area lost represents 84 percent of the wetland savanna that once existed in the biome, with the majority - 833,000 hectares - having been converted to other types of vegetation, such as savanna or grassland. In practice, this means that the Pantanal is drying out.

“Parts of rivers have already disappeared, silted up… Some channels we call ‘vazantes’ - areas that fill and drain with the river - no longer exist, and the rivers are now very shallow,” says forest engineer and botanist Claudinei Terena.

Born in the Limão Verde indigenous territory, in the municipality of Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Terena recalls a time when abundant water enriched the soil and made the region ideal for growing everything they needed.

“These are things I learned as a child: ‘Let’s build a house here. This wood, this species, is good for that.’ Let’s look for some medicinal plants. This tree here is used for that - the bark, the fruit, the leaves, and the roots. Each serves a specific purpose,” he explains.

Drawing on traditional knowledge, Terena worked on a project to restore 3.3 hectares of headwater areas within the indigenous territory. The goal was to ensure that the water flowing into the Pantanal would also help keep that part of the Cerrado productive.

“One of the examples we highlight here within the community is our farming system. We’ve always practiced agroforestry without even realizing it. We’ve always planted different crops together,” he explains.

Network

A little farther from the Pantanal, seed collector Adauto Cândido Pereira lives in the Santa Tereza quilombo community in Figueirão, Mato Grosso do Sul. As a member of the Flores do Cerrado Network, he also sees restoring springs as a way to revitalize rivers.

Through the responsible collection and sale of seeds, efforts to restore riverbanks extend far beyond the community’s own territory. “We collect seeds to support other projects across the state. There are 31 of us collectors - 16 women and 15 men - and we follow basic collection rules, such as leaving 30 percent of the seeds on the tree. You don’t just go in and take everything. We take care of the tree and the environment,” explains Pereira.

Restoration

According to Cyntia Santos, the two projects are part of WWF-Brazil’s efforts to restore river headwaters in the Cerrado and curb land-use changes that cause springs to silt up and impede the flow of tributaries that drain into the Pantanal.

“It’s a consequence of economic activities that are often carried out haphazardly, without the necessary expertise. There’s a lack of technical support and incentives,” says Cyntia Santos.

According to WWF-Brazil Executive Director Maurício Voivodic, the organization has worked in Brazil for 30 years, 22 of which have involved more intensive efforts in the Pantanal.

“We work in these areas, in collaboration with partners, always seeking to create local impact while also generating learning, collecting data, and building knowledge that will enable us to influence public policy,” Voivodic explains.

Energy

To restore river flows to the Pantanal, projects are also being developed to raise awareness about other uses of water resources, such as the installation of small hydroelectric plants.

According to Cyntia Santos, in addition to fragmenting rivers, this type of investment affects aquatic biodiversity and the regional economy, which relies heavily on tourism.

“Electricity must come from other sources, such as solar energy, which is one of the most suitable options for the region, since small hydroelectric plants in this area do not generate economic benefits for either the government or local communities,” she says.

Within the Pantanal, efforts to combat forest fires and promote connectivity between areas of native vegetation - through corridors linking existing conservation areas - help strengthen populations of species such as the jaguar, an indicator of the health and integrity of local biodiversity.

According to Santos, the traditional knowledge of the people who inhabit the biome is a fundamental part of efforts to address these challenges. “This allows us to leverage information, work together, optimize strategies, and move forward as a team,” she concludes.

More than one-third (38%) of human settlements in the Amazon were highly exposed to the effects of the 2024 El Niño, according to a study released Friday (Sep. 4) by MapBiomas – a network formed by universities, NGOs, and technology companies. Among the 5,673 inhabited areas in the region, 2,172 suffered severely from the phenomenon.

El Niño is characterized by the warming of the surface waters of the Tropical Pacific Ocean and causes changes in atmospheric circulation, leading to irregular rainfall patterns. In the Amazon, it causes drought and rising temperatures.

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In light of the weather forecast predicting that the phenomenon will be particularly strong this year – “Super El Niño” – researchers cross-referenced data on rainfall and land surface water to show how the Amazon was affected during the last occurrence of this climate event.

From September through November 2024, the water surface area in the Amazon was 1.9 million hectares below the historical average for the years 1985 through 2025. Rainfall was also lower, at 27 percent below average.

The average maximum temperature during those three months also rose significantly, reaching 2.6 °C above the historical average for the same period.

“Less rainfall and higher temperatures increase evaporative demand in the atmosphere, contributing to soil moisture loss and water stress in vegetation,” said Bruno Ferreira, a researcher at the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Imazon) and a member of the MapBiomas Amazon team.

Population

The study also examined the effects of the phenomenon on different types of human settlements – such as urban and rural areas, indigenous territories, quilombola communities, settlements, and other categories.

The population in these areas are said to have been severely affected by El Niño, as 93 percent of the locations surveyed – 5,273 in total – are within 5 km of areas that experienced a reduction in water surface area, the study notes.

“The drought also manifests itself in lower river levels, with consequences for transportation, access to water, fishing, and other activities that depend on river systems,” Bruno Ferreira noted.

Land cover and land use data complement the biome exposure factors, since over the 41-year historical time series of the study on this topic, 3.9 million hectares of native vegetation were lost, which is equivalent to a 14 percent reduction in the previously existing green cover.

In the study, the experts cross-referenced data on land cover and land use, water, and the atmosphere. They also used data from the statistics bureau IBGE on inhabited areas and information from the El Niño Panel of Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet).