''Atelopus bomolochos'', the Azuay stubfoot toad or Cuenca jambato frog, is a species of

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

in the family

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * C ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to southern Ecuador and known from Cordillera Oriental in the

Azuay Azuay (, ), Province of Azuay is a province of Ecuador, created on 25 June 1824. It encompasses an area of . Its capital and largest city is Cuenca. It is located in the south center of Ecuador in the highlands. Its mountains reach above sea le ...

, Cañar, and

Loja Province Loja Province () is one of 24 Provinces of Ecuador, provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west with El Oro Province, on the north with El Azuay, and on the east with Zamora-Chinchipe Province, Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on i ...

Description

Males measure and females in snout–vent length. The dorsum is yellow, yellow with brown, or yellowish green, usually with black spots on the back. The belly is yellow or orange.

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

s are humid montane forest, sub-

páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

, and páramo at elevations of

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

. It breeds in streams. This formerly abundant species has nearly disappeared from its range. The decline is attributed to

chytridiomycosis Chytridiomycosis ( ) is an infectious disease in amphibians, caused by the chytrid fungi '' Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis'' and '' Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans''. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or extinc ...

and

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. After one last individual was observed in 2002 in the Sangay National Park, and the species was feared extinct, the species was not seen before a small population was rediscovered in 2015 near Cuenca. A captive population is maintained in the Amaru Zoo, Cuenca.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2247914 bomolochos Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Ecuador Endemic fauna of Ecuador Amphibians described in 1973 Taxa named by James A. Peters Taxonomy articles created by Polbot