''Telmatobius'' is a

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 ...

of frogs native to the

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

highlands in South America, where they are found in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Argentina and northern Chile. It is the only genus in the family Telmatobiidae. Some sources recognize ''Batrachophrynus'' as a valid genus distinct from ''Telmatobius''.

Etymology

The word ''Telmatobius'' is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: τέλμα (''télma'', "swamp") and βίος (''bios'', "life").

Ecology and conservation

All ''Telmatobius'' species are closely associated with water and most species are semi-aquatic, while a few are entirely

aquatic Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live. Aquatic(s) may also refer to: * Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...

.Angulo, A. (2008). Conservation Needs of Batrachophrynus and Telmatobius Frogs of the Andes of Peru. Conservation & Society 6(4): 328–333. DOI: 10.4103/0972-4923.49196 They are found in and near lakes, rivers and wetlands in the

highlands at altitudes between . The genus includes two of the world's largest fully aquatic frogs, the

Lake Junin frog ''Telmatobius macrostomus'', also known as the Lake Junin (giant) frog or Andes smooth frog, is a very large and endangered species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae.Angulo, A. (2008). "Conservation needs of Batrachophrynus and Telmatobius fro ...

(''T. macrostomus'') and

Titicaca water frog ''Telmatobius culeus'', commonly known as the Titicaca water frog or Lake Titicaca frog, is a medium-large to very large and endangered species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is entirely aquatic and found only in the Lake Titicaca basi ...

(''T. culeus''),Halliday, T. (2016). ''The Book of Frogs: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from around the World.'' University Of Chicago Press. but the remaining are considerably smaller. In terms of tadpoles, the species with the largest tadpoles tend to be in higher elevated streams and lakes. This includes the species ''T. culeus'', ''T. macrostomus'', ''T. mayoloi'', and ''T. gigas''. ''Telmatobius'' contains more than 60 species; the vast majority seriously

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

, especially from

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 ...

, pollution, diseases (

chytridiomycosis Chytridiomycosis ( ) is an infectious disease in amphibians, caused by the chytrid fungi '' Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis'' and '' Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans''. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population declines or extinc ...

and nematode infections), introduced

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

, and capture for human consumption.Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani and Young, editors (2008). ''Threatened Amphibians of the World.'' The three Ecuadorian species have not been seen for years and may already be extinct: '' T. cirrhacelis'' last seen in 1981, '' T. niger'' in 1994 and '' T. vellardi'' in 1987. Similarly, seven of the fifteen species in Bolivia have not been seen for years. However, some might still be rediscovered: the Bolivian '' T. yuracare'' had not been seen in the wild in a decade and there was only a single captive male. A few wild individuals were located in 2019, thus ending the captive male's informal status as an

endling An endling is the last known individual of a species or subspecies. Once the endling dies, the species becomes extinct. The word was coined in correspondence in the scientific journal ''Nature''. Usage The 4 April 1996 issue of ''Nature'' p ...

(last survivor of the species).

Species

There are currently 63 species recognized in the genus ''Telmatobius'', but the validity of some species is questionable and it is likely that

undescribed species In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

remain.Sáez, Fibla, Correa, Sallaberry, Salinas, Veloso, Mella, Iturra, and Méndez (2014). ''A new endemic lineage of the Andean frog genus Telmatobius (Anura, Telmatobiidae) from the western slopes of the central Andes.'' Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171: 769–782.

References

External links

BBC News 4/29/05
{{Authority control Amphibians of South America Amphibian genera Taxa named by Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann