216 family leiuperidae FAMILy LEIUPERIDAE Physalaemus ephippifer (Steindachner, 1864) Common name(s): Steindachner’s Dwarf Frog (Eng.), Surinaamse rooddij kikker (Dutch) Leiuperus ephippifer Steindachner, 1864, Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien 14: 277. Type locality: “Parà und Caiçara [a locality in Mato Grosso, apparently in error]”, Brazil. Restricted to “Belém, Pará”, Brazil by Bokermann (1966). Short description Max snout vent length 33 mm. The body is somewhat elongated, the snout pointed and slightly projecting. The tympanum is hardly visible, with a small skinfold above it. There are two slight dorsolateral skinfolds. The back is smooth in most individuals, but shows a few longitudinal ridges from snout to vent or shorter. Some specimens have irregular warts, some of them connected to form non-lon- gitudinal ridges. The ventral part is smooth. The fingers and toes have no webbing. The iris is brown reddish encircled by a gold yellowish ring. The dorsal colour is light brown to reddish brown with greyish markings. The greyish pattern may be almost absent to very extensive. Often there is a yellow middorsal stripe present from the lower back to the vent. The hind limbs have greyish bands. There is a more or less distinct black stripe from the tip of the snout to the eye. Behind the eye this stripe becomes a distinct band with two lobes between the eye and arm, continuing below the dorsolateral fold to midbody or to the groin. The anterior thighs have a black band as well. The arm pit and groin have an orange to blood red spot. The ventral side is yellowish, the limbs are brown, the chest and throat spotted with brown. Physalaemus ephippifer differs from other frogs in Suriname by a combination of the following characters: A Leptodactylus-like shape with a rather pointed snouth, contrasting black bands on the flanks and red spots in the arm pit and groin. Distribution Mouth of the Amazon, Guyana and Suriname, also in one locality in Venezuela. Lescure & Marty (2000) do not mention this species for French Guiana. Distribution in Suriname: a common species of the savanna belt and interior. Not in central, eastern and southeastern Suriname. Seems to have dispersed from the west or southwest into Suriname, the main mountain ranges being barriers for its further dispersal to the east. However, recorded at 500m at Brownsberg Mt. In French Guiana replaced by Physalaemus petersi. physalaemus ephippifer 217 Fig. 201 Physalaemus ephippifer, Gros Rosebel area. Fig. 202 Distribution of Physalaemus ephippifer in Suriname..