''Craugastor matudai'' (common names: Matuda's robber frog, Matuda's stream 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 ...
in the family
Craugastoridae
Craugastoridae, commonly known as fleshbelly frogs, is a family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the famil ...
. It is found in the lower montane zone 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 ...
on the Pacific versant of
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
and
Guatemala, from Cerro Ovando in southwestern
Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...
(Mexico) to Fraternidad, a village in
Esquipulas Palo Gordo
Esquipulas Palo Gordo () is a town and municipality in the San Marcos department of Guatemala. The town was founded on 24 December 1826 year. In the 1920s it was merged with San Marcos, but in 1948 it recovered its autonomy again.
Political di ...
, central Guatemala.
It is named after
Eizi Matuda
(1894–1978) was a Mexican botanist of Japanese origin. In scholarly works his name is generally romanised as "Eizi Matuda" following the "Kunrei" system.
Biography
Matuda and his wife, Miduho Kaneko de Matuda, were naturalized Mexican citize ...
, Japanese–Mexican botanist
who hosted
Hobart Muir Smith
Hobart Muir Smith, born Frederick William Stouffer (September 26, 1912 – March 4, 2013), was an American herpetologist. He is credited with describing more than 100 new species of American reptiles and amphibians. In addition, he has been ...
and his wife
Rozella B. Smith
Rozella B. Smith (1911–1987) was an American herpetologist and data archivist and analyst.
Biography
Rozella Pearl Beverly Blood was an only child, born 18 May 1911 in Wichita, Kansas, to Charles Gillman Blood and Sarah Dorothy "Dollie" Sherma ...
, the collectors of the
type series
In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...
from Cerro Ovando.
[
]
Description
Males measure and females in snout–vent length. The body is heavily rugose with tiny pearly-topped tubercles. The canthus rostralis In snakes and amphibians, the canthus, canthal ridge or ''canthus rostralis'',Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa''. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. . is the angle between the flat crown of the head and the ...
is sharp with slightly raised edges. The diameter of the tympanum relative to the eye is much larger in males (>4/5) than in females (little more than 1/2). Males lack vocal sac
The vocal sac is the flexible membrane of skin possessed by most male frogs and toads. The purpose of the vocal sac is usually as an amplification of their mating or advertisement call. The presence or development of the vocal sac is one way o ...
.[
]
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 ...
is pine-oak forest where it lives terrestrially. This rare species is potentially 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 ...
. Mexican law protects it under the "Special Protection" category (Pr).
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3002293
matudai
Amphibians of Guatemala
Amphibians of Mexico
Amphibians described in 1941
Taxa named by Edward Harrison Taylor
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot