''Atelopus cruciger'', also known as the Veragua stubfoot toad or Rancho Grande harlequin frog, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in the family Bufonidae. 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 ...

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 is known from the central

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System ( es, Sistema Montañoso Caribe) is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the c ...

. The species was already suspected to be extinct because, despite considerable effort, none had been found since 1986. However, in 2003, a small population was found, with few other locations discovered later. It is mainly threatened by chytridiomycosis. It is locally called ''sapito rayado''.

Description

Adult males measure and adult females in snout–vent length. The body is slender. The snout is pointed in dorsal view. No tympanum is visible, but the supratympanic crest is well developed. There are small rounded warts present on the dorsolateral surfaces, most prominently around the arm insertions and as a dorsolateral row. The fingers have basal webbing while the toes are slightly more webbed. The hind limbs are relatively long. Preserved specimens have greenish tan color that is lighter on the ventral side. The dorsal surfaces have dense brown vermiculation as well as a X-pattern behind the head.

Diet

The main sources of food for these frogs are ants and other small

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

Habitat and conservation

''Atelopus cruciger'' was historically abundant and widely spread in the

at elevations 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 ...

, although most records were from gallery, cloud, and semi-deciduous forests at

. ''Atelopus cruciger'' usually occurs near streams and rivulets. These frogs are diurnal and often found on stones, but can also climb to vegetation up to 1.5 meters above the ground. Breeding takes place along swift-flowing streams. However, the species has undergone a dramatic decline, and only few populations are known to persist. These are all at low altitudes () on the northern slope of the Henri Pittier National Park. The main reason for the decline is believed to be chytridiomycosis. Many of the historic collections came from protected areas. Air pollution (acid rain) could also be a contributing factor, given the proximity to the industries in the

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

- Maracay area.

In culture

*The frog appears on the reverse side of the Venezuelan Bs.S 5 banknote.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2056602 cruciger Endemic fauna of Venezuela Amphibians of Venezuela Amphibians described in 1856 Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein Taxa named by Eduard von Martens Taxonomy articles created by Polbot