About
The Critically Endangered Ayacucho Andes frog is endemic to Peru, where it inhabits montane cloud forests.
This poorly known frog is thought to be one of around 24 species comprising the genus Oreobates. This genus of frogs diverged from all other living amphibians more than 45 million years ago. This is around the same time that wolves and walruses last shared a common ancestor!
It is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List because the area in which it could survive is less than 100km². Its distribution is severely fragmented and there is a continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat.
The major threats to the habitat are agricultural expansion, subsistence wood collecting, and human settlement. The species does not occur in any protected areas, and therefore habitat protection and maintenance are a conservation priority. The species is not very well studied and further research is needed on its ecology to aid conservation action.
- Order: Anura
- Family: Craugastoridae
- Population: Unknown
- Trend: decreasing
- Size: 21-32mm
- Weight: Unspecified
EDGE Score
Distribution
The species is only known from the eastern Andes, west of the Apuric River and from Cordillera Vilcabamba, Departamento Ayucucho, Peru, around 2,460-2,650 metres above sea level.
Habitat and Ecology
The species inhabit montane cloud forest, but is unknown whether it occurs in degraded areas. It is presumed to breed by direct development; whereby offspring bypass a larval stage and emerge from the egg as miniature version of the adult.