''Elachistocleis pearsei'' (common name: Colombian plump frog) 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

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

. It is found in the Pacific versant of western

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 ...

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 ...

, Caribbean lowlands of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and into the Magdalena River Valley, and in northwest

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. 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 ...

''pearsei'' honors

Arthur Sperry Pearse Arthur Sperry Pearse (1877–1956) was a botanist and zoologist from the United States. He was born at a Pawnee people reserve in Crete, Nebraska, where his parents had a commercial outpost. He earn a BA at the University of Nebraska in 1900 and a ...

, an American zoologist. ''Elachistocleis pearsei'' was until 2012 considered to form monotypic genus ''Relictivomer'', but in molecular phylogeny ''Elachistocleis pearsei'' is nested within other ''Elachistocleis'', leading to resurrection of name ''Elachistocleis pearsei''. ''Elachistocleis pearsei'' is a nocturnal and fossorial lowland frog occurring at elevations less than . Its range extends from lowland dry forests to premontane rain/wet forests. Breeding takes place in temporary and permanent pools after the rains. It probably is locally impacted by

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 ...

References

pearsei Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Costa Rica Amphibians of Panama Amphibians of Venezuela Amphibians described in 1914 Taxa named by Alexander Grant Ruthven Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{microhylidae-stub