''Gastrotheca ochoai'' is a species of frog in the family Hemiphractidae. It is endemic to southern Peru and occurs in the interandean valleys on the eastern face of the Andes. 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 ...

''ochoai'' honors Oscar Ochoa Mendieta, a biology professor from the

National University of Saint Anthony the Abbot in Cuzco The National University of Saint Anthony the Abad in Cuzco (Spanish: ''Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco'') (UNSAAC), also known as Saint Anthony University of Cusco or University of Cusco, is a public university in Cusco, Peru a ...

who helped the species descriptors during the field work. Common name Chilca marsupial frog has been coined for this species.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The snout is pointed in dorsal view and round in profile. The tympanum is round; the supra-tympanic fold is weakly developed and granular. The fingers have no webbing whereas the toes have moderate webbing; the discs are wide and roundly truncate. Dorsal skin has small tubercles. Adults have golden tan coloration with black or brown markings, potentially joining into median or paired stripes. They can, however, change their color to brown, as well as change the intensity of the dorsal patterns. There are narrow, dark brown canthal and post-

orbital Orbital may refer to: Sciences Chemistry and physics * Atomic orbital * Molecular orbital * Hybrid orbital Astronomy and space flight * Orbit ** Earth orbit Medicine and physiology * Orbit (anatomy), also known as the ''orbital bone'' * Orbito ...

stripes. The iris is bronze. The venter is dusky white. The tadpoles metamorphose in their mother's pouch.

Habitat and conservation

''Gastrotheca ochoai'' is an arboreal frog found in

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s 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 tadpoles develop in

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

s. It is a very rare species that is threatened by habitat loss (deforestation) caused by subsistence use of wood and timber and by increasing human habitations. It occurs in the Manú National Park.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2209663 ochoai Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Peru Endemic fauna of Peru Taxa named by William Edward Duellman Amphibians described in 1972 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot