Alsodes pehuenche

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Alsodes pehuenche
Alsodes pehuenche hembra.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Alsodidae
Genus: Alsodes
Species:
A. pehuenche
Binomial name
Alsodes pehuenche
Cei  [ es; fr ], 1976

Alsodes pehuenche (common name: Pehuenche spiny-chest frog) is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae. [2] It is endemic to Pehuenche Valley in the Andes of southern Mendoza Province, Argentina, and the adjacent Chile. At the time of the assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2012 (published 2013), the species was known from six streams (five in Argentina and one in Chile) in an area encompassing some 9 km². [1] A study published in 2013 extended the known range a few kilometers west and included another Chilean stream. [3]

Habitat

Alsodes pehuenche is an aquatic frog. It is found primarily in galleries inside small permanent snowmelt streams with stony banks, covered by herbaceous vegetation; it can also be found in ponds and swamps derived from snowmelt. The altitude of its habitat is between 2,000–2,523 m (6,562–8,278 ft) asl. [1] [4]

Description

Males in two Chilean locations measured on average 51 mm (2.0 in) and females 50.4 mm (1.98 in) in snout–vent length. The body is bulky and extremities are robust. The head is wide with snout that is short and rounded. The dorsal coloration is light brown with diffuse, irregular, darker blotches. There are sometimes dispersed yellowish blotches that are more frequent in females. [3]

Life cycle

This frog has very slow development: time to metamorphosis is estimated to be at least four winters. [1]

Conservation status

The streams A. pehuenche inhabits are impacted by paving the highway in their catchment. This has already impacted the hydrology and it may affect water quality, particularly because of salting of the highway in winter. [1] [4] Additional threats are waste from tourists and tramping by livestock. Considering these threats and the very limited area of occurrence, the Amphibian Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified this species as "Critically Endangered". [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Alsodes</i> Genus of amphibians

Alsodes is a genus of alsodid frogs found in Chile and Argentina. It is the most species-rich frog genus in Patagonia. Common name spiny-chest frogs has been coined for them.

<i>Alsodes australis</i> Species of frog

Alsodes australis is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae found in western Argentina and eastern Chile from 46°25′S to 42°25′N. Its natural habitat is cold mountain streams of austral temperate Nothofagus forest. A potential threat to this species are introduced predatory salmonid fishes, but so far little is known about its population status.

<i>Alsodes barrioi</i> Species of amphibian

Alsodes barrioi, the Cabreria spiny-chest frog, is a species of frog in the Alsodidae, endemic to Chile; it is only known from its type locality in the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta, Malleco Province. The specific name barrioi honors Avelino Barrio, a Spanish botanist and zoologist who lived in Argentina.

<i>Alsodes hugoi</i> Species of amphibian

Alsodes hugoi is a species of frogs in the family Alsodidae. It is endemic to Chile and only known from its type locality, Río Lircay, in Alto de Vilches, Talca Province, on the western slopes of the Andes. The specific name hugoi honors Professor Hugo Campos Cereceda, for his "remarkable contributions to the development of the natural sciences in Chile".

Alsodes igneus is a species of frogs in the family Alsodidae endemic to Chile; it is only known from its type locality, Tolhuaca National Park, Malleco Province, on the western slopes of the Andes. The specific name igneus, meaning "something that is of fire", was chosen to symbolize the survival of the population from a great forest fire that affected the type locality in 2000.

Alsodes kaweshkari is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae. This rare species is endemic to southern Chile where it is known from two specimens, the holotype that was collected from Puerto Edén, and one paratype from Seno Huemules on the mainland.

Alsodes montanus is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae found in Chile and possibly Argentina. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Alsodes monticola</i> Species of frog

Alsodes monticola is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae. It is found in southern Chile and western Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, though its presence in Argentina is disputed. Its habitat preferences are not known, but the region of the type locality has tundra and islands of Nothofagus forest.

<i>Alsodes nodosus</i> Species of frog

Alsodes nodosus is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae endemic to central Chile; records from Argentina are not considered valid.

<i>Alsodes valdiviensis</i> Species of amphibian

Alsodes valdiviensis is a species of frogs in the family Alsodidae. It is endemic to Chile and only known from its type locality, Cerro Mirador in the Cordillera Pelada, Valdivia Province. The specific name refers to this province.

<i>Alsodes vanzolinii</i> Species of frog

Alsodes vanzolinii is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae.

<i>Alsodes verrucosus</i> Species of frog

Alsodes verrucosus is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae. It is found in the Andes of Chile and Neuquén and Río Negro Provinces, Argentina. These frogs inhabit temperate Nothofagus forest where they occur under logs and near damp areas. Tadpoles develop in cold, deep streams. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by logging.

<i>Eupsophus calcaratus</i> Species of frog

Eupsophus calcaratus is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae. It is endemic to Patagonia. It has one of the broadest distributions of any Chilean frog.

<i>Eupsophus emiliopugini</i> Species of frog

Eupsophus emiliopugini is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae. It is found in the temperate Nothofagus forests of Chile between 40°50'S and 45°20'S, and in the Lago Puelo National Park, Chubut Province, Argentina. The specific name emiliopugini honors Professor Emilio Pugín, for "his contribution to knowledge of the reproductive biology and development of the Chilean frogs". Common name Emilio's ground frog has been coined for the species.

Telmatobius pefauri is a species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is endemic to extreme northern Chile. It was already feared that this species is extinct, but recent research has suggested that the species is extant at several localities in the Arica y Parinacota Region, albeit at low numbers. Furthermore, morphological and genetic data suggest that Telmatobius zapahuirensis is a synonym of Telmatobius pefauri. Common name Arico water frog has been coined for this species.

<i>Amolops larutensis</i> Species of frog

Amolops larutensis is a species of frog in the family Ranidae that is found in the Malay Peninsula from southernmost Thailand to Malaysia; records further north probably represent A. panhai.

<i>Meristogenys jerboa</i> Species of frog

Meristogenys jerboa is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to western Sarawak in Borneo. Common names western torrent frog, Matang torrent frog, and Gunther's Borneo frog have been coined for it. Many cryptic species have been separated from this species. Based on mitochondrial DNA, current "true" Meristogenys jerboa still includes two major lineages. However, because the lineages occur in sympatry and do not differ in morphology, Shimada and colleagues elected to treat them as intraspecific variants.

<i>Alsodes norae</i> Species of frog

Alsodes norae is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae endemic to the Chilean Coast Range in the Valdivia Province, Chile. It is only known from the type series collected from a temperate Nothofagus forest. The threats are not formally known but it may be ongoing deforestation, however, the species may be protected by Oncol Park.

Litoria spartacus is a species of frog in the subfamily Pelodryadinae of the family Hylidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea and is only known from two localities within the Kikori Integrate Conservation and Development Project Area in the Southern Highlands Province. It has affinities to Litoria macki and Litoria spinifera but has a smaller size and more extensively webbed hands and less tuberculate body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alsodidae</span> Family of amphibians

The Alsodidae are a small family of frogs from South America between Patagonia and southern Brazil. It contains 30 species in three genera. This family, along with several other families, used to be included in the family Leptodactylidae. It was then a subfamily in the family Cycloramphidae, before being recognized as a family first in 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2019). "Alsodes pehuenche". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T56319A79811367. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T56319A79811367.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2016). "Alsodes pehuenche Cei, 1976". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 Correa, Claudio; Pastenes, Luis; Iturra, Patricia; Calderón, Pilar; Vásquez, Dayana; Lam, Natalia; Salinas, Hugo & Méndez, Marco A. (2013). "Confirmation of the presence of Alsodes pehuenche Cei, 1976 (Anura, Alsodidae) in Chile: morphological, chromosomal and molecular evidence". Gayana. 77 (2). Concepción: 125–131. doi: 10.4067/S0717-65382013000200006 .
  4. 1 2 Corbalán, Valeria; Debandi, Guillermo & Martínez, Flavio (2010). "Alsodes pehuenche (Anura: Cycloramphidae): Past, present and future". Cuadernos de Herpetología. 24 (1): 17–23.