New-to-science Amazon frog stands out for its slow ‘lazy’ song

Researchers described a new frog species, Adenomera varcena, found in Amazonian floodplain forests of Ecuador and northwestern Brazil, distinguished from close relatives not by looks but by an unusually slow, sparse mating call. While related species can call up to 70 notes a minute, A. varcena manages just one to five, the slowest documented in its genus.

Lead author Marianna Borburema, now at the University of São Paulo, spent three weeks analyzing the frog's sounds and argues evolutionary pressure in this genus falls on the call rather than appearance, since females respond to song. The species was identified as one of nine genetically distinct lineages within a larger species complex, and is notable as the only member of its lineage living in floodplains rather than dry forest.

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