''Odontophrynus occidentalis'', commonly known as the Cururu lesser escuerzo, 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

Odontophrynidae The Odontophrynidae are a family of frogs from southern and eastern South America. This family was first established in 1969 as the tribe Odontophrynini within the (then) very large family Leptodactylidae. Molecular phylogenetics analyses prompte ...

. 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 western and central Argentina. 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

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s, montane grasslands, rocky outcrops, and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

. Breeding takes place in permanent streams; the development of 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 i ...

s takes about eight months. It tolerates habitat change but is threatened by water pollution and fires caused by agriculture and mining.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females, based on just two specimens, in snout–vent length. The body is chubby with stout limbs. The head is small and wider than it is long. The canthus rostralis is bluntly rounded. The tympanum is hidden. The fingers have slightly developed fringes, and the toes are slightly webbed. Skin is granular, with scattered, irregularly arranged, rounded glandular warts on dorsally. The

parotoid gland The parotoid gland (alternatively, paratoid gland) is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It can secrete a number of milky alkaloid substances (depending on the species) known collective ...

are irregular and rounded. Dorsal coloration is brownish with faint lateral and dorsal yellowish longitudinal bands. The warts are darker brown. Ventrally the coloration is bluish or brownish, with scattered white granuli. The male advertisement call is a trill constituted by a repeated and pulsed note.

Habitat and conservation

''Odontophrynus occidentalis'' occurs in montane forests, montane dry shrublands, montane grasslands and nearby rocky outcrops 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 ...

. Breeding takes place in permanent mountain streams; the larval developmental period is long, over a year. This species is common and stable in suitable habitats, but

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 ...

and degradation caused by livestock and firewood extraction are still considered threats to this species.

References

occidentalis This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

Amphibians of Argentina Amphibians of Patagonia Endemic fauna of Argentina Taxa named by Carlos Berg Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians described in 1886 {{Hyloidea-stub