''Hyloscirtus chlorosteus'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

in the family

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and ...

. 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 else ...

to Bolivia and only known from 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 sever ...

collected in 1979 from Parjacti (=Paracti), on the eastern slopes of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

in the

Cochabamba Department Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa Jach'a Suyu, es, Departamento de Cochabamba , qu, Quchapampa Suyu), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the ...

. The specific name refers to the green bones of this frog. Common name Parjacti treefrog has been coined for it.

Description

The holotype, a subadult male, measures about in snout–vent length. The specimen has a prominent preorbital ridge and moderately heavy supratympapanic fold that continues as a later fold, ending just before to the groin; the tympanum itself is indistinct. The snout is truncate in dorsal view but bluntly rounded when viewed from the side. The finger and toe tips bear large discs. The toes are heavily webbed whereas the finger webbing is moderate. The dorsum is brown with darker pattern. The flanks and the thighs have yellowish markings. The venter is opalescent gold to cream, turning to cream with pinkish tint posteriorly; the chin is opalescent gold. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

is gold. The bones are green, as hinted by the specific name ''chlorosteus''.

Habitat and conservation

The holotype was found in

Yungas The Yungas ( Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends int ...

forest at above sea level. The specimen was collected at night from a door knob at the agricultural customs inspection station. The

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

s presumably develop in water. Despite later surveys to the area, no new specimens have been found. The area is suffering from

habitat degradation 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 agriculture, logging, and infrastructure development.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2715523 Hyloscirtus Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Bolivia Endemic fauna of Bolivia Amphibians described in 1992 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot