''Pristimantis marahuaka'' 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

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 els ...

to the summit of

Cerro Marahuaca Cerro Marahuaca, also spelled Marahuaka (Ye'kuana: ), is a tepui in Amazonas state, Venezuela. It has an elevation of above sea level and is the second-highest mountain of the entire Guayana Shield (after the Cerro de la Neblina complex).Huber, O ...

, 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 ...

in central Amazonas state, Venezuela. 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 ...

is tepui shrubland at around

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

where it is common in the mossy bases of ''

Heliamphora The genus ''Heliamphora'' ( or ; Greek: ''helos'' " marsh" and ''amphoreus'' "amphora") contains 23 species of pitcher plants endemic to South America.McPherson, S., A. Wistuba, A. Fleischmann & J. Nerz 2011. '' Sarraceniaceae of South Americ ...

'' plants. There are no direct threats to this species, but given its small range (<20 km²), it is considered "near threatened" by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

References

marahuaka Guayana Highlands Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of South America Endemic fauna of Venezuela Amphibians of Venezuela Frogs of South America Amphibians described in 2004 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Amphibians of the Tepuis {{Strabomantidae-stub