''Gastrophryne elegans'', the elegant narrow-mouthed toad, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

found in Central America. 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

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, intermittent freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es,

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forests. 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 ...

Description

The elegant narrow-mouthed toad has a small triangular head and is flattened dorsoventrally. The females have a snout-to-vent length of about , while the males are slightly smaller. The colouring is somewhat variable and helps to camouflage this frog among the leaf litter. The dorsal surface has a broad, dark-brown, central stripe which widens and narrows irregularly and is delineated with a narrow, dark line. On either side is a reddish-brown area and then a dark-brown line that runs from the tip of the snout, past the eye, over the shoulder to the groin. The thighs have two dark bands and further lines occur on the lower leg which align when the animal is crouched. The ventral surface is dark brown or black, mostly obscured by indistinct whitish spots which merge. The hind feet each have a tubercle on the metatarsal and slight webbing on the fourth toe. The outer toes have flattened, spreading tips.

Distribution and habitat

''Gastrophyrne elegans'' is native to lowland Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras on the Atlantic side of the continent. Its range extends from north-central coastal areas of Honduras to central

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. An isolated population is found in the

Sian Ka'an Sian or Siyan may refer to: __NOTOC__ People *Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name Places *Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran *Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia *Xi'an, China, formerly roman ...

Biosphere Reserve on the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

. This species is found in tropical forests, where it lives on the ground among the leaf litter. It breeds in the rainy season in temporary pools.

Status

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 ...

rates ''Gastrophryne elegans'' as "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

", because of its large population, wide distribution, and tolerance of modifications to its habitat. Its population seems relatively stable and any decline is unlikely to be fast enough to justify listing it in a more threatened category. It is protected by legislation in Mexico under the "Special Protection" category.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2241650 Gastrophryne Amphibians described in 1882 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot