''Niceforonia lucida'' 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

Strabomantidae The Strabomantidae are a family of frogs native to South America. These frogs lack a free-living larval stage and hatch directly into miniature "froglets". This family includes ''Pristimantis'', the most speciose genus of any vertebrate. System ...

. 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 Peru and known from the Cordillera Central west of the

Apurímac River The Apurímac River ( que, Apurimaq mayu; es, Río Apurímac, ; from Quechua ''apu'' 'divinity' and ''rimaq'' 'oracle, talker') rises from glacial meltwater of the ridge of the Mismi, a mountain in the Arequipa Province in the south-western m ...

in the

Ayacucho Region Ayacucho () is a department and region of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit in the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as ...

. Common name Cannatella's Andes frog has been coined for it. The specific name ''lucida'' refers to distinctive coloration of this frog relative to frogs in the genus ''

Phrynopus ''Phrynopus'' is a genus of frogs of the family Strabomantidae. Their common name is Andes frogs. They are endemic to Peru and inhabit the upper humid montane forest and supra-treeline grassland in the Cordillera Oriental, with one record from ...

'', the genus where this species was initially placed. However, later studies have moved it to other genera where its colors are less distinctive.

Description

Males measure and females in snout–vent length. The snout is subacuminate in dorsal view and sloping in lateral profile. The

canthus rostralis In snakes and amphibians, the canthus, canthal ridge or ''canthus rostralis'',Spawls S, Branch B. 1995. ''The Dangerous Snakes of Africa''. Ralph Curtis Books. Dubai: Oriental Press. 192 pp. . is the angle between the flat crown of the head and the ...

is sharp and slightly concave. The tympanum is visible and the supratympanic fold is prominent. Skin of the dorsum is smooth or slightly areolate; skin of venter is smooth. The fingers and toes have weak lateral fringes. The finger tips bear narrow discs. The toe discs have circumferential grooves. The dorsum is dark gray to brown with dark brown to black markings. Some individuals have tan to orange dorsolateral stripes. The groin and concealed surfaces of hind limbs are pale, dull orange (orange-red in males). The venter is gray or creamy white with gray flecks. 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 enti ...

is crimson.

Habitat and conservation

''Niceforonia lucida'' occurs in the wet paramo with puna grass, ferns, moss and lichens, and in upper humid montane forest 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 ...

. Specimens have been found at day under rocks. The species 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 ...

, primarily caused by clearance of land for agriculture.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4659802

lucida Lucida (pronunciation: ) is an extended family of related typefaces designed by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes and released from 1984 onwards. The family is intended to be extremely legible when printed at small size or displayed on a low-resol ...

Amphibians of Peru Amphibians of the Andes Endemic fauna of Peru Amphibians described in 1984 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot