Critically Endangered
Telmatobius atacamensis
Telmatobius atacamensis
Telmatobius atacamensis is a frog in the family Telmatobiidae (order Anura), recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to Argentina.
The frog
Telmatobius atacamensis is a frog in the family Telmatobiidae (order Anura).
Range and habitat
Telmatobius atacamensis is a strictly aquatic species, inhabiting mountain rivers, streams, and wetlands in the high-altitude environments of northwestern Argentina. Although the Telmatobius genus is widely distributed from Ecuador to Chile and Argentina, T. Atacamensis is one of only three out of fourteen Telmatobius species in Argentina that are microendemic to the Puna region of Salta. Its known range is less than 20,000 km2, primarily within the San Antonio de los Cobres area and Los Patos River.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Telmatobius atacamensis primarily feeds on benthic invertebrates, with its diet consisting mainly of Diptera larvae, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera. Studies have shown no significant variation in diet composition between males, females, and juveniles, suggesting diet remains consistent across different life stages.
In crisis
Due to its restricted range and specialized habitat, T. Atacamensis faces significant conservation threats, among them habitat degradation, chytridiomycosis, and invasive species. Telmatobius atacamensis is classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List and is also recognized as endangered at the national level in Argentina. Its primary threats stem from habitat degradation, mining, pollution, disease, invasive species, and climate change, all of that contribute to its declining population.
Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.
Telmatobius atacamensis 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 Telmatobius atacamensis, Wikidata item Q2209842. 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.
