By Dean Murray

A new species of tiny frog no bigger than a pencil tip has been discovered.

The bright orange amphibian was spotted in the mountain forests of Serra do Quiriri in southern Brazil, prompting fresh calls for stronger conservation of the region’s fragile habitats.

Belonging to a group of miniature “pumpkin toadlets” that live in damp leaf litter, the species is distinguished by its vivid coloring and genetic and anatomical traits that set it apart from closely related frogs found nearby.

Researchers say that the minuscule species are between 8.9 and 13.4 millimeters in length.

The amphibian , named Brachycephalus lulai after Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, occupies a range estimated at just a few square kilometers of high-altitude Atlantic Forest.

Alth

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