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Cientistas Encontram Menor Rã Do Mundo Em Papua-Nova Guiné Ciências Enviado Por: Postado Em:16/01/2012

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Cientistas Encontram Menor Rã Do Mundo Em Papua-Nova Guiné Ciências Enviado Por: Postado Em:16/01/2012 Disciplina - Ciências - Cientistas encontram menor rã do mundo em Papua-Nova Guiné Ciências Enviado por: Postado em:16/01/2012 Uma equipe de cientistas dos Estados Unidos anunciou a descoberta do que acreditam ser a menor espécie de rã do mundo, em Papua-Nova Guiné. A espécie, batizada de Paedophryne amauensis, tem 7,7 milímetros de comprimento e poderia ser também um dos menores seres vertebrados do mundo. Em um artigo publicado na última edição da revista científica "PLoS One", os pesquisadores anunciam também a descoberta de outra espécie próxima, Paedophryne swiftorum. Os cientistas sugerem que o reduzido tamanho da rã está ligado ao seu habitat, em folhas em decomposição no solo de uma floresta. Encontrar as rãs não foi uma tarefa fácil, porém, já que elas ficam muito bem camufladas entre as folhas. Além disso, esses animais desenvolveram a capacidade de emitir um som que lembra o dos insetos, tornando-os difíceis de detectar em meio à floresta. "As florestas da Nova Guiné são incrivelmente barulhentas à noite. Estávamos tentando registrar sons de rãs na floresta e estávamos curiosos sobre o que eram esses outros sons", contou à BBC o coordenador da pesquisa, Chris Austin, da Universidade Estadual de Louisiana, em Baton Rouge, nos Estados Unidos. "Então nós fizemos uma triangulação para detectar de onde esses sons estavam vindo e tentamos procurar nas folhas", disse. "Era noite, e essas criaturas são incrivelmente pequenas, então o que fizemos após várias tentativas frustradas foi tomar um punhado inteiro de folhas e jogá-las em um saco plástico", contou. "Quando fizemos isso, vimos essas incrivelmente minúsculas rãs saltando de um lado para o outro." MENORES O gênero Paedophryne foi identificado apenas recentemente e consiste em uma série de espécies pequenas encontradas em vários pontos das florestas do leste de Papua-Nova Guiné. "Elas ocupam a relativamente densa camada de folhas no chão das florestas tropicais em partes baixas da ilha, comendo insetos incrivelmente pequenos que tipicamente são muito menores que os insetos que as rãs normalmente comem", disse Austin. "E elas provavelmente são presas de um grande número de invertebrados relativamente pequenos que normalmente não caçam rãs", observa. De forma intrigante, outros lugares do mundo que também possuem folhagens densas e úmidas tendem a possuir espécies de rãs pequenas, indicando que os anfíbios estão bem colocados para ocupar esse nicho ecológico. Antes da descoberta do gênero "Paedophryne", o título de "menor rã do mundo" era do sapo-pulga brasileiro (Brachycephalus didactylus) e da ligeiramente maior Eleutherodactylus iberia, encontrada em Cuba. Ambas as espécies medem menos de 1 centímetro. Os menores animais vertebrados conhecidos até hoje eram peixes. O Paedocypris progenetica, que vive em pântanos e riachos da Indonésia, mede entre 7,9 e 10,3 milímetros quando adulto. Os peixes pescadores machos da espécie Photocorynus spiniceps têm apenas 6 milímetros de comprimento, mas vivem acoplados às fêmeas bem mais longas (50 milímetros), e muitos cientistas discutem se eles podem ser considerados os menores vertebrados do mundo. As florestas de Papua-Nova Guiné estão ao lado das de Madagáscar como os locais onde espécies de anfíbios até aqui desconhecidos devem ser descobertas, já que são locais pouco desenvolvidos e explorados. Esta notícia foi acessada em 16/12/2011 na Folha.com. Todas as informações nela contida são de responsabilidade do autor. https://www.ciencias.seed.pr.gov.br 6/10/2021 8:44:28 - 1.
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