''Chaltenobatrachus'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus 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

Batrachylidae Batrachylidae is a family of frogs from southern South America (Argentina and Chile). Before being recognized as a family, Batrachylidae was included as a subfamily (Batrachylinae) in the family Ceratophryidae; this is the taxonomy still suggest ...

. The sole species, ''Chaltenobatrachus grandisonae'', used to be included ''

Atelognathus ''Atelognathus'' is a genus of frogs in the family Batrachylidae. Sometimes known as Patagonia frogs, these frogs are endemic to Patagonia (southernmost Argentina and Chile). Species There are seven species in the genus: * '' Atelognathus nitoi' ...

'', which is considered the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

of ''Chaltenobatrachus''. ''C. grandisonae'' (common name: Puerto Eden frog) 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 Patagonia, including both

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 ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It inhabits rainforest and wetlands of the southern fjordlands and

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in Patagonia. It is known from just few localities: its type locality,

Puerto Eden 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, Orient ...

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 ...

, Chile, and two mainland sites in Argentina.

Description

Small to medium-sized frogs, ''C. grandisonae'' adults reach a snout–vent length of about , with typical frog-like appearance and body proportions. Back of the body and limbs are rather uniformly bright green with brown to reddish warts.

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 up to in total length.

Reproduction

Females of this species lay their eggs in clusters attached to branches or stones under the water in still water, mostly temporary ponds. Each cluster has a few tens of eggs. Eggs are deposited in October (middle austral spring), and development to metamorphosis takes about 10–12 weeks, to December (early summer). In colder sites, development seems to take longer and

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 might overwinter.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q305240 Monotypic amphibian genera Batrachylidae Amphibians of Argentina Amphibians of Chile Amphibians of Patagonia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot