Critically Endangered
Ecnomiohyla rabborum
Ecnomiohyla rabborum
Ecnomiohyla rabborum is a treefrog in the family Hylidae (order Anura), recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
The snout-vent length (SVL) of males averaged between 62 and 97 mm (2.4 and 3.8 in), while in females it is between 61 and 100 mm (2.4 and 3.9 in). The snout is moderately long with nostrils protruding from the sides near the tip. Viewed from the top, the snout was more or less elliptical in shape.
Range and habitat
Ecnomiohyla rabborum is known only from the cloud forests of the Pacific-facing slopes of the mountains above the town of El Valle de Antón in central Panama, between the provinces of Coclé and Panamá. Its range has an area of less than 100 km2 (39 mi2) at altitudes of 900 to 1,150 m (2,950 to 3,770 ft). It is believed that the species became extinct in the wild mainly because of an epidemic of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in its native range.
Two males in Zoo Atlanta and Atlanta Botanical Garden survived until February 17, 2012, when one of them had to be euthanized to prevent suffering after a decline in health and to preserve valuable genetic material.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
It is nocturnal and feeds on insects. The males of the species are highly territorial, defending water-filled tree holes used for breeding.
The males of the species are highly territorial and would guard water-filled tree holes used for breeding. Despite the efforts of several conservation teams, captive breeding programs all failed.
In crisis
It is also widely considered Extinct, following the death of 'Toughie', the last Rabbs' Fringe-limbed treefrog. It was officially listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) by 2009. She was survived by two other individuals, both males.
The last known surviving member of the species, an adult male named Toughie, resided at the Atlanta Botanical Garden until his death September 26, 2016. At the time of its collection, the herpetologists who later described Ecnomiohyla rabborum were already aware of the encroaching threat of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (colloquially referred to by biologists as "Bd") in Panama.
Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.
Ecnomiohyla rabborum 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 Ecnomiohyla rabborum, Wikidata item Q139998. 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.
