Critically Endangered
Eleutherodactylus orientalis
Eleutherodactylus orientalis
Eleutherodactylus orientalis is a frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae (order Anura), recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
E. Orientalis is relatively brightly marked in yellow and very small, females averaging 1.33 cm (0.52 in) in snout–to–vent length and males 1.25 cm (0.49 in). It is part of a closely related Cuban group that contains five additional described species (E. Cubanus, E. Etheridgei, E. Iberia, E. Jaumei and E. Limbatus) and at least one undescribed species. Most of that are of tiny size, relatively brightly colored and possibly aposematic (at least E. Iberia and E. Orientalis have alkaloid toxins in their skin).
Range and habitat
It is endemic to the vicinity of El Yunque, Baracoa, in easternmost Cuba. Although locally common, it requires undisturbed moist forest and has a tiny range, making it critically endangered from habitat loss and degradation.
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
Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.
Eleutherodactylus orientalis 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 Eleutherodactylus orientalis, Wikidata item Q3005925. 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.
