''Nymphargus anomalus'' 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 Centrolenidae. 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 ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and occurs on the Amazonian slopes of the Ecuadorian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

in the

Napo Province Napo () is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Tena. The province contains the Napo River. The province is low developed without much industrial presence. The thick rainforest is home to many natives that remain isolated by preference, descend ...

. Common name Napo Cochran frog has been coined for it.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snoot–vent length. The snout is short and truncate. The tympanum is visible, with its upper edge barely covered by the weakly-developed supra-tympanic fold. The fingers are only slightly webbed and have broad discs. The toes are two-thirds webbed and have discs that are rounder and slightly smaller than those on the fingers. The coloration is tan, which is unusual among the related species—hence the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''anomala'', from Greek "unusual". There are small, black ocelli that enclose orange-tan spots.

Habitat and conservation

''Nymphargus anomalus'' occurs in vegetation bordering mountain streams 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 is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

. Males

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call (poker), a bet matching an opponent's * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from L ...

from the vegetation. Females attach their eggs on mossy branches over the stream. The male

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was found on a mossy limb of a bush, about above a cascading rivulet. The habitat at the type locality has been subject to some

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 ...

. For a long time, this was the only known locality. However, in 2009 one new population was found near the Llanganates National Park, and another from the Sumaco volcano (not specified whether the locality was within the Sumaco Napo-Galeras National Park).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q604124 anomalus Amphibians of Ecuador Endemic fauna of Ecuador Taxa named by William Edward Duellman Taxa named by John Douglas Lynch Amphibians described in 1973 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot