Critically Endangered
Telmatobius ventriflavum
Telmatobius ventriflavum
Telmatobius ventriflavum is a frog in the family Telmatobiidae (order Anura), recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to Peru.
Appearance
T. Ventriflavum has large eyes and a rounded snout. The tongue is rounded and the species lacks vocal slits. Its skin is smooth both ventrally (below) and dorsally (above), but the back is patterned with miniature pustules. Coloration on the dorsal portion of the body ranges from light golden-yellow to golden-tan, with dark brown, golden-yellow, and red mottling.
Females measure 49.3–55.7 millimetres (1.94–2.19 in) in length and weigh 11.5–19.7 grams (0.41–0.69 oz), while males measure approximately 48.5 millimetres (1.91 in) and weigh 13.6 grams (0.48 oz). The head is flat, wider than long, and makes up slightly more than 30% of the body length.
Range and habitat
The species is found around elevations of 3,900 metres (12,800 ft) (possibly up to 4,300 metres (14,100 ft)) on the Pacific (western) slopes of the Andes in Peru. Specimens have only been collected from a single locality, a stream that drains into the Huaytará river, a tributary of the Pisco river. Most rainfall occurs between January and March.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Breeding
The species is believed to have an extended breeding period, with the developmental stages of captured tadpoles suggesting that it even breeds during the dry period.
In crisis
The construction of pipelines and roads are also a threat, as is water contamination stemming from nearby mining and agriculture. B. Dendrobatidis has had catastrophic effects on other Telmatobius species throughout the Andes region of South America: the extinction of three species from Ecuador has been linked to chytridiomycosis outbreaks, as has the decline of T. Marmoratus and T. Timens from Peru and three species from Argentina.
Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.
Telmatobius ventriflavum 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 ventriflavum, Wikidata item Q18971452. 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.
