''Craugastor catalinae'' 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

Craugastoridae Craugastoridae, commonly known as fleshbelly frogs, is a family of New World direct-developing frogs. As delineated here, following the Amphibian Species of the World, it contains 129 species. They are found from the southern United States south ...

. It is found in the Río Cotón drainage in the Pacific southwestern

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and on the Pacific slopes of

Volcán Barú The Volcán Barú (also Volcán de Chiriquí) is an active stratovolcano and the tallest mountain in Panama, at high. It lies about off the border of Costa Rica. It is also the twelfth highest peak in Central America. Due to its height and the ...

, western

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. 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 ...

''catalinae'', rather obliquely, honors Karen R. Lips: Spanish name "Catalina" corresponds to Danish name "Karen". Lips collected a part of 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 ...

and has "contributed substantially to our knowledge of the Río Cotón drainage herpetofauna and the declining amphibian populations problem in lower Central America."

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The snout is subovoid to subelliptical from above and rounded in profile. The tympanum is distinct; it is round in males but ovoid in females. The fingers have discs and weak lateral keels. The toes have discs, fleshy fringes or broad flanges, and are moderately to heavily webbed. The dorsum is dark brown, olive, greenish gray, or gray-brown, and has a few darker spots. There is often a faint, light mid-dorsal pin stripe. The posterior thigh surface is dark brown and has yellow mottling. The venter is pale cream, with weak light brown punctations on the throat and chest.

Habitat and conservation

Natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of ''Craugastor catalinae'' are streams in premontane and lower montane humid forests 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 ...

. This species was once common in Costa Rica, but has now disappeared from much of its range; it has also declined in Panama. In addition to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, the decline is assumed to be caused by

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 extincti ...

. It is known from some protected areas, including the

La Amistad International Park The La Amistad International Park, or in Spanish , formerly the La Amistad National Park, is a Transboundary Protected Area in Latin America, management of which is shared between Costa Rica ( Caribbean La Amistad and Pacific La Amistad Conservati ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1593630 catalinae Frogs of North America Amphibians of Costa Rica Amphibians of Panama Critically endangered fauna of North America Taxa named by Jonathan A. Campbell Taxa named by Jay M. Savage Amphibians described in 2000 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot