In a recent paper documenting the results of expedition to the tepuis of Brazil – the so-called “Lost World” of Arthur Conan Doyle fame, Fouquet et al. (2024) describe two new species of direct-developing brachycephaloid frogs (the large clade of frogs mostly comprised of species once placed in the genus Eleutherodactylus but later shown through phylogenetic analysis to best be spread across five families of frogs). Remarkably, these two new species,Caligophryne doylei and Neblinaphryne mayeri, not only fall outside of all currently recognized genera of brachycephaloid frogs but they also fall outside of each of the five currently recognized brachycephaloid families! Thus, the authors erect two new families of frogs, Caligophrynidae and Neblinaphrynidae, which we now recognize on AmphibiaWeb. This finding is consistent with the controversial theory that the tepuis could be home to relatively ancient lineages left behind as the ancient plateau eroded away leaving habitat on stilts (so to speak). There may not be dinosaurs on the tepuis, but there are previously undiscovered frog families. Not surprisingly, the recent fieldwork in the Pantepui region has resulted in many new species of herps in addition to these deeply divergent new frog lineages including additional frogs, plus new lizards and snakes.

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