The false green robber frog (''Eleutherodactylus chlorophenax'') 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

Eleutherodactylidae The Eleutherodactylidae are a family of direct-developing frogs native to northern South America, the Caribbean, and southernmost North America. They are sometimes known under the common name rain frogs. Formerly the subfamily Eleutherodactylina ...

. 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 ...

to the

Massif de la Hotte The Massif de la Hotte is a mountain range in southwestern Haiti, on the Tiburon Peninsula. About 2.5 million years ago, Massif de la Hotte was separated from the Massif de la Selle by a deep, wide sea channel, and formed a separate island. This r ...

, southwestern

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 ...

Etymology

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 ...

''chlorophenax'' is derived from Greek words for "green" and "imposter", the first referring to the prevalent green body color and the latter alluding to the resemblance of this species to ''

Eleutherodactylus inoptatus ''Eleutherodactylus inoptatus'' (common name: Diquini robber frog) is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae endemic to Hispaniola; it is found both in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. With female snout–vent length of about , it i ...

''.

Description

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 ...

, an adult male and the only type specimen, measured in snout–vent length (SVL). This is also the maximum (recorded) size for males, while the maximum female size is SVL. The head is slightly wider than it is long. The snout is truncate. The tympanum is visible. The dorsum is either green or tan with some green areas. Some individuals have weakly defined dark scapular spots and dorsolateral lines, but otherwise the dorsum is almost without any distinct pattern. The fingers are unwebbed while the toes are slightly webbed. Both fingers and toes are long and bear relatively large discs.

Habitat and conservation

The species' 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 hardwood forests and ravine pinelands 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 range of this species is suffering from severe

habitat destruction 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 ...

, primarily due to logging for charcoal production by local people and by slash-and-burn agriculture. Its range overlaps with the

Pic Macaya National Park Pic Macaya National Park (french: Parc National Pic Macaya) is one of two national parks of the Republic of Haiti. It is located in the country's southern peninsula, within the Massif de la Hotte. Featuring the country's last stand of virgin cl ...

, but the park is not managed for conservation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1593080 chlorophenax Amphibians of Haiti Endemic fauna of Haiti Amphibians described in 1976 Taxa named by Albert Schwartz (zoologist) Taxonomy articles created by Polbot