The southern pastel frog or Hispaniola robber frog (''Eleutherodactylus leoncei'') 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 Eleutherodactylidae. It 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 ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

and known from the

Massif de la Selle In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

, both in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. Its 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 are upland pine forests. Males call from the ground. It is threatened 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 ...

caused by logging and agriculture. It is known from the

Sierra de Bahoruco National Park The Sierra de Bahoruco National Park is an environmentally protected national park located in the South-western region of Dominican Republic. It was created in 1983 by Presidential Decree (No. 1315/83) during the presidency of Salvador Jorge Blanco ...

(Dominican Republic), but habitat degradation is occurring in this area too.

Taxonomic history

''E. leoncei'' was described by Shreve & Williams in 1963. The type-locality for the species is Foret des Pins, near

Pic La Selle Pic la Selle (Kreyòl: ''Pik Lasel''), also called ''Morne La Selle'', is the highest peak in Haiti with a height of above sea level. The mountain is part of the Chaîne de la Selle mountain range. It is located in the Ouest Ouest (French for w ...

. 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 ...

(YPM 1167) is an adult female collected the 26 February 1959 by P. S. Humphrey.

Distribution and habitat

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 the majority of subsequent specimens were collected during the day under rocks and logs in pine ('' Pinus occidentalis'') and hardwood forests, while one was discovered crossing a road in a pine forest at night. Eleutherodactylus leoncei dist map

This species is restricted to the

in Haiti, and

Sierra de Bahoruco The Bahoruco Mountain Range—Sierra de Bahoruco (or Sierra de Bahoruco) is a mountain range located in the far southwestern region of the Dominican Republic. It is within Pedernales, Independencia, Barahona, and Bahoruco Provinces. A large part ...

in the Dominican Republic, Hispaniola. It has been recorded from 1,182 to 2,303 m asl. It is considered a terrestrial species that lives in upland pine forests, preferring shady spots and calling from the ground. It will not tolerate disturbances to its natural environment. It breeds by direct development and lays its eggs on the ground.

Conservation

The species is found in Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco in the Dominican Republic, but the region is poorly protected, and

is ongoing. It is important to improve the management of existing protected areas and maintain the remaining habitat. The main threat is habitat loss caused by

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

(charcoaling) and slash-and-burn agriculture carried on by local communities. This region has been recently affected by multiple forest fires, some of which have been caused by illegal human activities within the park boundaries. Because of a projected population loss of more than 80% in the next ten years due to extreme destruction of the species' habitat in Hispaniola, the species is listed as Endangered by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Images

File:Eleutherodcatylus leoncei 51071330501 d8d9237ec8o.jpg, Adult female of ''Eleutherodactylus leoncei'' from Sierra de Bahoruco. File:Sierra de bahoruco fire 51002242050 2991b67680.jpg, Effects of wildfires visible along the road in Parque Nacional Sierra de Bahoruco. File:El codo sierra de bahoruco 51071426311 f2a85eb06b.jpg, Typical habitat of ''E. leoncei'' in Sierra de Bahoruco.

References

leoncei Endemic fauna of Hispaniola Amphibians of the Dominican Republic Amphibians of Haiti Amphibians described in 1963 Taxa named by Benjamin Shreve Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Eleutherodactylus-stub