''Amolops cremnobatus'' 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 ...

s in the family Ranidae. It is found in north-central Laos and Vietnam. Its range might extend into Thailand. 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 ...

''cremnobatus'' is derived from Greek ''kremnobates'', meaning "frequenter of steep places", and refers to the steep waterfall from which the

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

were collected. Common name Lao sucker frog has been coined for it.

Description

The type series consists of two adult males measuring in snout–vent length. The overall appearance is slender, with the head wider than the body. The snout is short and almost truncate. The tympanum is distinct. The fingers are short but bear very wide discs; the medial edges of second and third fingers have distinct skin folds. The toes bear somewhat smaller discs and are fully webbed. Preserved specimens are dorsally and laterally black and have irregular, small, light markings that are yellowish brown in life. The dorsolateral folds are marked by series of short, light bars. The limbs bear wide, black crossbars. The ventral surfaces are white, sometimes with weak, black suffusion. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s are dorsally and laterally black and ventrally white. Body length is up to and total length up to .

Habitat and conservation

''Amolops cremnobatus'' is closely associated with fast-flowing, rocky streams and cascades in evergreen forest at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The eggs are adhesive and deposited in clutches on wet vertical rock faces within the splash zone of cascades. The tadpoles live clinged to and climbing on the same rock faces. Although ''Amolops cremnobatus'' can live in slightly disturbed forest, it is likely to suffer from changes in hydrological conditions (e.g., damming), habitat loss caused by logging, conversion to agriculture, and the development of infrastructure. It is also collected for food. It is known from a number of protected areas:

Pù Mát National Park Pù Mát National Park (Vietnamese: ''Vườn quốc gia Pù Mát'') is a national park in Nghệ An Province, in Vietnam's North Central Coast region. It is part of the Western Nghệ An Biosphere Reserve. In the Thai language, Pù Mát means ...

as well as Pu Hoat and Pu Hu Nature Reserves in Vietnam, and Nakai–Nam Theun National Biodiversity Conservation Area in Laos.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2243772 cremnobatus Amphibians of Laos Amphibians of Vietnam Taxa named by Robert F. Inger Taxa named by Maurice Kottelat Amphibians described in 1998 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot