''Aromobates tokuko'', or Perija's nurse frog, is a

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

. It is endemic to

Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Habitat

This diurnal frog lives in riparian habitats in basomontane forests and in evergreen forests at higher elevations on the east side of

Sierra de Perijá Sierra (Spanish for "mountain range" or "mountain chain" and "saw", from Latin '' serra'') may refer to the following: Places Mountains and mountain ranges * Sierra de Juárez, a mountain range in Baja California, Mexico * Sierra de las Nieves ...

. Most of the sites where this frog has been observed are near indigenous villages. Scientists have observed the frog between 419 and 1005 meters above sea level. Almost all of the frog's known range overlaps with Sierra de Perijá National Park.

Reproduction

The male frog calls to female frogs during the day from a hiding place beneath a rock or inside a rotting log. Scientists saw tadpooles in pools associated with the same streams where the adults were found. Scientists infer that the rest of the reproductive process takes place in the same manner as in other frogs in ''Aromobates'': The female frog lays eggs in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

and, after the eggs hatch, the male frog carries the tadpoles to water.

Threats

The IUCN classifies this frog as vulnerable to extinction. Much of its range is within a protected park, but it is subject to some

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

in favor of large cocoyam plantations. The frog has been observed living on traditional shade coffee farms, so scientists infer it can tolerate some habitat disuturbance.

Original publication

References

Frogs of South America tokuko Endemic fauna of Venezuela Amphibians described in 2011 {{Aromobatidae-stub