Peltophryne guentheri

Peltophryne guentheri, the southern crested toad or Gunther's Caribbean toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Hispaniola and found in the lowlands of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.[2]

Peltophryne guentheri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Peltophryne
Species:
P. guentheri
Binomial name
Peltophryne guentheri
(Cochran, 1941)
Synonyms
  • Bufo guentheri Cochran, 1941
  • Bufo fractus (Schwartz, 1972)
  • Peltophryne fracta Schwartz, 1972

Description

Males grow to 74 mm (2.9 in) and females to 101 mm (4.0 in) in snout–vent length.[3] The dorsum has a yellowish tan ground color and is heavily overlaid with a very dark brown to black reticulated pattern.[4]

Habitat and ecology

Natural habitats of Peltophryne guentheri are dry lowland valleys in both mesic and xeric areas.[1] These frogs have been observed to sit on or near piles of cattle manure. They appear to use a sit-and-wait foraging strategy to catch insects on the manure.[3]

Breeding takes place in temporary pools,[1] including a rainwater-filled roadside ditch.[3] Breeding is triggered by heavy rains, and the breeding season corresponds to the Atlantic hurricane season.[3]

Conservation

It is threatened by habitat loss caused by livestock grazing and selective logging, and by agricultural pollution.[1] All observations of these animals are from degraded habitats[1][3] where the populations are facing further habitat degradation caused by urban development. A further threat is competition with and predation from introduced cane toads (Rhinella marina) and American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus). Males have also been observed attempting to mate with a male Rhinella marina.[3]

References
  1. Hedges, B.; Inchaustegui, S.; Hernandez, M. & Powell, R. (2004). "Peltophryne guentheri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T54656A11182697. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T54656A11182697.en.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Peltophryne guentheri (Cochran, 1941)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  3. Landestoy, Miguel A.; Robert Ortíz & Patricia Torres (2015). "Use of cow manure by two sympatric species of toads in the northwestern Dominican Republic" (PDF). IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians: Conservation and Natural History. 22 (2): 83–86.
  4. Schwartz, A. (1972). "The native toads (Anura, Bufonidae) of Hispaniola". Journal of Herpetology. 6 (3/4): 217–231. doi:10.2307/1562774. JSTOR 1562774.
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