''Craugastor tabasarae'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Craugastoridae Craugastoridae, commonly known as fleshbelly frogs, is a family of New World direct-developing frogs. As delineated here, following the Amphibian Species of the World, it contains 129 species. They are found from the southern United States south ...

. 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 ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and known from a few isolated records in the

Veraguas Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&n ...

, Coclé, Colón, and

Panamá Province Panamá is a province of Panama. It is the location of the national capital Panama City, which also serves as the provincial capital. The governor of the province is Mayín Correa, appointed by President José Raul Mulino. Administrative di ...

s. The range includes the eponymous Serranía de Tabasará.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The tympanum is distinct albeit heavily pigmented, and round in males whereas subelliptical in females. The finger and toe tips are expanded into discs. The toes are basally webbed. Coloration is dorsally cocoa brown with medium-sized darker brown blotches interspersed with lemon yellow. The lips are barred with brown and lemon yellow. The upper thigh surface has dark brown to black irregular bars, interspersed with bright orange-red bars. The chin, chest, and venter are custard yellow. The limbs are ventrally bright yellow with scattered brown spots. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

is silvery tan to golden above and dark brown to black below.

Habitat and conservation

''Craugastor tabasarae'' occurs in premontane forest 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 ...

. They are typically at night up to above the ground on vegetation overhanging or near streams. Development is presumably direct (i.e., no free-living larval stage). This species is rare, and at least one population has crashed and might be now extinct. The species is threatened by the spread of the

chytrid fungus Chytridiomycota are a division of zoosporic organisms in the kingdom Fungi, informally known as chytrids. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning "little pot", describing the structure containing unreleased zoospores. Chytrids ...

'' Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis'' as well as by

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 ...

. It has been recorded in the D. Omar Torríjos. H. and Chagres National Parks.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q144295 tabasarae Endemic fauna of Panama Amphibians of Panama Taxa named by Jay M. Savage Amphibians described in 2004 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot