''Pristimantis mutabilis'', also known as the mutable rainfrog or "punk rock" rainfrog, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 Strabomantidae. It is found in the Ecuadoran

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 ...

of Pichincha and Imbabura provinces. ''Pristimantis mutabilis'' is the first known

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

species that is able to change skin texture from tuberculate to almost smooth in a few minutes, an extreme example of phenotypic plasticity. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''mutabilis'' (changeable) refers to this ability. The physiological mechanism behind the skin texture change remains unknown.

Taxonomy and discovery

''Pristimantis mutabilis'' was formally described in 2015 in the ''

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society The ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering zoology published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Linnean Society. The editor-in-chief is Maarten Christenhusz (Linnean Society) ...

''; the

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 collected in 2013. The species was placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Pristimantis'' on the basis of genetic studies supported by the morphological analysis. The new species was first spotted in 2006, but only in 2009 the first specimen was collected and its unusual abilities were discovered. Also '' Pristimantis sobetes'', a related species but from a different species group, have been found to display similar skin texture plasticity, suggesting that this trait may be more common in '' Pristimantis'' than in other amphibians.

Description

Males measure about and females in snout–vent length. In life, males have light brown to pale greyish green dorsum, with bright green marks and grey to dark brown chevrons, outlined by thin cream or white line, with orange dorsolateral folds. The belly is pale grey to brown with darker, diffuse spots, and few small white spots. Females have red flash coloration.

Habitat and conservation

The species'

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

and it is known from both primary and secondary Andean forests 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 ...

. ''Pristimantis mutabilis'' is only known from three sites in two separate reserves. Based on the vocalizations during the night, it is abundant, but it is difficult to see because of its arboreal habits. However, the known subpopulations are separated by a dispersal barrier (the dry valley of the Guayllabamba River), and the general area is suffering from habitat destruction and fragmentation. Chytridiomycosis might also be a threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q19683980 mutabilis Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Ecuador Endemic fauna of Ecuador Amphibians described in 2015