''Eleutherodactylus parabates'', also known as Independencia robber frog and Neiba whistling 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

Eleutherodactylidae The Eleutherodactylidae are a family of direct-developing frogs native to northern South America, the Caribbean, and southernmost North America. They are sometimes known under the common name rain frogs. Formerly the subfamily Eleutherodactyl ...

. 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 ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

and found along the crest of the , near the border between the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. The specific name ''parabates'' is Greek for "transgressor" and refers to this species being the first Hispaniolan member of the "''

Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus ''Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus'' is a rare species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), ...

'' species group" recorded north of the Plain of the Cul-de-Sac–Valle de Neiba (the southern species are ''

Eleutherodactylus jugans The La Selle dusky frog or Mable's robber frog (''Eleutherodactylus jugans'') is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae. It is Endemism, endemic to Hispaniola and known from the Massif de la Selle, both in the Dominican Republic and i ...

'' and '' E. ventrilineatus'').

Description

Adult females measure and adult males, based on a single specimen, in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

. The snout is rather pointed. The tympanum is relatively large. The fingers and toes have moderately well-developed discs but lack webbing. The dorsal coloration consists of a brown longitudinal band running from the snout to the groin; some individuals have a median tan dorsal line. The dorsal band is separated from the darker brown sides by a faint tan dorsolateral stripe. The lips are mottled. The throat and belly are yellowish tan with heavy brown mottling.

Habitat and conservation

''Eleutherodactylus parabates'' inhabits high-elevation (

a.s.l. American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

) dense, closed hardwood forest where it can be found under rocks and logs and in low-arboreal

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa ...

s. Eggs are deposited on the ground and have direct development (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). ''Eleutherodactylus parabates'' can be moderately common in suitable habitat and was last recorded in 2019. However, the forest habitat this species depends on is declining rapidly. It is present in the Parque Nacional Sierra de Neiba, but habitat loss occurs also in the park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleutherodactylus Parabates parabates Endemic fauna of Hispaniola Amphibians of the Dominican Republic Amphibians of Haiti Taxa named by Albert Schwartz (zoologist) Amphibians described in 1964 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot