''Rhinella atacamensis'', sometimes called the Vallenar toad or Atacama toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Chile and occurs between Paposo ( Antofagasta Region) and Las Chilcas ( Valparaíso Region). It inhabits the desert Pacific coastal region with Mediterranean influences (including the Chilean matorralC. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2013
Chilean matorral. ed. M.McGinley. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment
Washington DC) and is found in and near

oases In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

and streams. Breeding takes place in permanent pools (including water tanks for livestock), streams, and rivers. While abundant at a few sites, it has declined overall and gone locally

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

at some sites. Threats to this species include extensive droughts and water pollution as well as extraction of surface water, mining, agriculture, livestock farming, and timber plantations.

References

atacamensis Endemic fauna of Chile Amphibians of Chile Atacama Desert Chilean Matorral Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of South America Amphibians described in 1962 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by José Miguel Alfredo María Cei {{Bufonidae-stub