''Engystomops coloradorum'', also known as Colorado dwarf frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

s in the family

Leptodactylidae The southern frogs form the Leptodactylidae, a name that comes from Greek meaning a bird or other animal having slender toes. They are a diverse family of frogs that most likely diverged from other hyloids during the Cretaceous. The family has u ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the Pacific lowlands and foothills of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in the Pichincha and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Provinces,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The snout is subacuminate. The tympanum is small, recessed, and smooth, whereas the tympanic annulus is granular. The forelimbs are slender; fingers are without webbing. The hind limbs are short and the toes have basal webbing. All dorsal surfaces have small tubercles, and there are large tubercles on head and body. The dorsum is brown and may have an orange-brown middorsal stripe posteriorly. The limbs are orange-brown; forelimbs have dark brown markings and hind limbs have dark brown to black bars. The venter is black and heavily mottled with white or bluish white, which becomes dark brown on flanks and hind limbs. The iris is pale grayish brown or dull bronze and has fine black reticulations.

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are tropical moist forests and more open, altered habitats at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

(AmphibiaWebEcuador puts the lower limit to 400 m). It breeds in small, still waterbodies where it makes foam nests. It can be locally abundant but its range is small. Though adaptable, it is probably threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2238615 coloradorum Amphibians of Ecuador Endemic fauna of Ecuador Taxa named by David C. Cannatella Taxa named by William Edward Duellman Amphibians described in 1984 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot