''Oreophrynella weiassipuensis'' is a species of

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...

s in the family

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category contains both species commonly called toads, and the true toads from the family Bufonidae {{Cat m ...

. It is only known from Wei-Assipu-tepui, a

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

on the border between

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. 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 several ...

was collected in 2000 by a speleological expedition to Wei-Assipu-tepui. No other specimens are known. It is possible that it is present in other localities, but most species of ''Oreophrynella'' are

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 a single mountain.

Description

The holotype, an adult male, measures in snout–vent length. Its characteristics are well developed post-orbital crests, well-developed webbing in hands and feet, dorsal skin that is minutely granular with scattered large tubercles particularly on the upper eyelids and flanks, and reddish brown dorsal and ventral coloration. The tympanum is absent.

Habitat and conservation

The only known individual was found on moss in a wet forest at the bottom of a large chasm at

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 ...

. There are no known threats to this species. The Brazilian part of the mountain is within the

Monte Roraima Mount Roraima ( es, Monte Roraima; Tepuy Roraima; Cerro Roraima pt, Monte Roraima ) is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepuis (table-top mountain) or plateaux in South America. It is located at the junction of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. ...

National Park.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1941978 weiassipuensis Amphibians of Brazil Amphibians of Guyana Amphibians described in 2005 Taxa named by Josefa Celsa Señaris Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians of the Tepuis Guayana Esequiba