''Werneria bambutensis'' is a species of

toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

in the family

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * C ...

. 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 ...

to western

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

where it occurs at high altitudes between Mount Manengouba and

Mount Oku Mount Oku, or Kilum Mountain, is the largest volcano in the Oku Massif, in the Cameroon Volcanic Line, located in the Oku region of the Western High Plateau of Cameroon. It is the second highest mountain in mainland Central Africa. The stratovo ...

, including the eponymous Bamboutos Mountains. It is also known as the Bamboutos smalltongue toad and Bambouto torrent toad.

Description

Adult males can grow to and adult females to 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 body is compact and the legs are short and thick. The snout is short and rounded. No tympanum is visible. The toes are fully webbed. The dorsum and the flanks are dark greenish-olive to clear bronze, with a gold shimmer or blackish speckles. The dorsolateral line (present in most other ''Werneria'') is only weakly present on the sides of the head. The lower parts are uniformly grey to white with grey spots.

Habitat and conservation

''Werneria bambutensis'' lives in fast-flowing streams at elevations between

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 ...

, typically within montane forest patches and rarely lower than . Outside the breeding season, it also seems to disperse away from streams into forest patches, open bamboo glades, and montane grassland. During the dry season, adults may hide under stones in streams. It is a rare species that appears to have declined at many known localities, possibly because of

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 ...

. It is further threatened 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 ...

(i.e., deforestation). It is not known from protected areas, although it might be present in the Bafut-Ngemba Forest Reserve.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1942274 bambutensis Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Cameroon Endemic fauna of Cameroon Amphibians described in 1972 Taxa named by Jean-Louis Amiet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fauna of the Cameroonian Highlands forests