Critically Endangered
Du Toit's torrent frog
Arthroleptides dutoiti
Du Toit's torrent frog is a frog in the family Petropedetidae (order Anura) — Arthroleptides dutoiti, recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
This species is a small frog, with the adult female type specimen collected in 1934 measuring 31 mm (1.2 in) in snout-vent length, and the adult male paratype specimen being slightly smaller, with a snout-vent length of only 25 mm (0.98 in). The snout tapers slightly, with nostrils located midway between the eyes and the snout tip, and a very prominent canthal ridge. The hind legs are long, exceeding the snout-vent length, and in the male paratype specimen are twice the snout-vent length.
It is one of numerous species of frog commonly described by the polyphyletic designator "torrent frog." This frog is small, with the holotype individual growing 31 mm (1.2 in) in snout–vent length, and has warty and pitted skin on its back but smooth skin elsewhere.
Range and habitat
The Du Toit's torrent frog is endemic to Mount Elgon, with the only known sightings recorded from the Koitobos and Suam rivers between 2,100–2,200 m (6,889.8–7,217.8 ft) above sea level on the Kenyan side of the mountain, though it is expected to occur in other sites on both the Kenyan and Ugandan sides. As such, the species has a small extent of occurrence of only 973 km2 (375.7 sq mi). The frog's natural habitat consists of rocky streams with cold, fast-flowing water surrounded by dense montane forest.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
Calling males and egg sites define most frog field work. A species known from one ridge is as narrow as it sounds.
Eggs and damp skin make amphibians quick to vanish from a drained wetland or a forest stripped of litter.
In crisis
The males are known to make calls from sheltered areas during the rainy season and occupy territories of at least 5 sq in (32.3 cm2). Despite repeated surveys conducted on Mount Elgon from 2001 onwards, the Du Toit's torrent frog has not been recorded since Keith's sighting and has been feared extinct, though evidence remains insufficient to officially declare it as such. While the exact causes of its decline remain uncertain, habitat loss and the fungal disease chytridiomycosis have been proposed as threats to the species.
Even so, the organization's later assessments in 2004 and 2016 listed it as Critically Endangered instead, stating that evidence is lacking to formally declare it extinct, and inferring that if any individuals still exist, there would be fewer than 250 mature adults occurring in a single location. Although the exact causes of the decline of this species remains unknown, habitat loss has been proposed to be a major factor.
Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.
Du Toit's torrent frog is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Du Toit's torrent frog, Wikidata item Q305129. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
