''Pipa parva'' (common names: Sabana Surinam toad and dwarf toad), 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

Pipidae The Pipidae are a family of primitive, tongueless frogs. The 41 species in the family Pipidae are found in tropical South America (genus ''Pipa'') and sub-Saharan Africa (the three other genera). Description Pipid frogs are highly aquatic and ...

. It is found in northwestern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and northeastern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

(

Norte de Santander North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santander is bordered by Venez ...

and

La Guajira Department La Guajira () is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the departm ...

s), mainly in the

Maracaibo Basin The Maracaibo Basin, also known as Lake Maracaibo natural region, Lake Maracaibo depression or Lake Maracaibo Lowlands, is a foreland basin and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, found in the northwestern corner of Venezuela in South A ...

. There is an introduced (and expanding) population in the Lake Valencia Basin in northern Venezuela.

Description

Adult males measure and females in snout–vent length. The head is narrow in the dorsal view, and the snout is pointed; the eyes are large. The body is relatively slender. Skin is tuberculate. The webbing between the fingers and toes is transparent.

Habitat and conservation

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 lakes, ponds, and marshes in flat, open areas, such as grassland and flooded habitats. They are able to cross land areas. In Venezuela, its altitudinal range is from sea level up to

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 ...

, whereas in Colombia it is . The female carries the eggs on her back, from where the hatching

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 emerge into water where the development continues. ''Pipa parva'' is a very common species that may even be treated as a pest. There are no known threats (pest control seems to have a negligible impact on populations). On the contrary, the potential expansion of this species into the

Orinoco Basin The Orinoco Basin is the part of South America drained by the Orinoco river and its tributaries. The Orinoco watershed covers an area of about 990000 km2, making it the third largest in South America, covering most of Venezuela and eastern p ...

is seen as a threat.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2705325 Pipa (frog) Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Venezuela Taxa named by Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige Taxa named by Alexander Grant Ruthven Amphibians described in 1923 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot