''Alsodes kaweshkari'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family

Alsodidae The Alsodidae are a small family of frogs from South America between Patagonia and southern Brazil. It contains 30 species in three genera. This family, along with several other families, used to be included in the family Leptodactylidae. It was ...

. This rare species 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 elsew ...

to southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

where it is known from two specimens, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

that was collected from

Puerto Edén Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

(

Wellington Island Wellington Island is an island west of Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile. It has an area of 5,556 km2 and most of the island forms part of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park Bernardo O'Higgins National Park () is the largest of the prot ...

), and one paratype from Seno Huemules on the mainland.

Etymology

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 ...

''kaweshkari'' refers to Kaweshkar Indians, "brave people" and hunters of sea lions who live in Puerto Edén.

Description

Both type specimens are males. They measure in snout–vent length (i.e., large in comparison to most other ''Alsodes''). The body is robust. The flanks and dorsal surfaces are granular, as is the skin around vent and posterior thighs. The ventral skin is smooth with minute granules. The dorsum, arms, and legs are brown; the areas around nostrils, lips and, eyes are light brown. The iris has a coppery reticulum. Belly is whitish yellow. The tympanum is absent. The toes are fringed and have some webbing at their bases. The fingers are unwebbed. However, fingers have some spines in males—a secondary sex characteristic, as are the black patches of keratinous spines in the chest. The holotype was destroyed by fire on 3 December 2007.

Habitat and conservation

Both locations have small forests composed of '' Nothofagus betuloides'', ''

Embothrium coccineum ''Embothrium coccineum'', Chilean firetree or Chilean firebush, commonly known in Chile and Argentina as ''notro'', ''ciruelillo'' and ''fósforo'' is a small evergreen tree in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. It grows in the temperate for ...

'', '' Maytenus magellanica'', and '' Drimys winteri'', surrounded by

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

. One specimen was collected under a log at the forest-tundra border, the other by a small stream, both near the sea level (

asl 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 ...

). The species was last seen in 1998 and expeditions in 2001 and 2002 in the same area failed to find it. The threats are unknown but it is known to occur in the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2208705 kaweshkari Amphibians of Patagonia Amphibians of Chile Endemic fauna of Chile Amphibians described in 1998 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot