Leptodactylus caatingae Heyer & Juncá 2003

Morphologically, Leptodactylus caatingae differs very little from Leptodactylus latinasus and

L. caatingae is known from eight localities in eastern Brazil. Seven of the localities are in Caatinga Morphoclimatic Domain, while the southernmost locality is in the Atlantic Morphoclimatic Domain. Specimens have been observed and collected in flooded forest areas. There are two species to which L. caatingae is nearly identical morphologically: L. latinasus and L. fragilis. However, L. fragilis lives only between southernmost Texas (U.S.A.) and north coastal Venezuela, while L. latinasus lives only in Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, and southwestern Brazil (Heyer and Juncá 2003).

The advertisement call of L. caatingae distinguishes it from L. latinasus, which until recently was believed to be the same species. The human ear can perceive the difference between the calls, and analysis of waveforms clearly demonstrates the difference. The advertisement call of L. caatingae is pulsed and has a frequency of 940-1620 Hz, while the advertisement call of L. latinasus is not pulsed and has a higher frequency of 3000 - 3781 Hz. L. caatingae can be distinguished from its relative L. fragilis by the greater length of its call, about 0.19 seconds rather than about 0.07 (Heyer and Juncá 2003). The life history of L. caatingae is not known (Heyer and Juncá 2003).

No threats to L. caatingae have been identified (Heyer and Juncá 2003).

Leptodactylus caatingae is a species of frog in the family Leptodactylidae. It is endemic to the Caatinga region of northeastern Brazil and known from Espirito Santo, Paraíba, and Bahia states. Prior to its description it was included in Leptodactylus latinasus. Its natural habitat is dry Caatinga savanna; other aspects of its ecology are unknown. Potential threats to it are overgrazing and fires.