[3] The specific name vanzolinii honors Paulo Vanzolini, a Brazilian herpetologist and composer.

There is a narrow, oblique orange stripe running from the posterior border of eye to the arm insertion.

[3] Its natural habitats are streams in primary forest at elevations of 800–1,500 m (2,600–4,900 ft) above sea level.

Scientists suspect that the frog is either extinct at present or has a population of no more that fifty mature individuals.

They recommend that if further surveys do locate living frogs, they should be taken for an ex situ breeding program, and their offspring eventually relocated to suitable habitat.