Osgood's Ethiopian toad

Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Altiphrynoides
Species:
A. osgoodi
Binomial name
Altiphrynoides osgoodi
(Loveridge, 1932)[3]
Synonyms[3]
  • Bufo osgoodi Loveridge, 1932
  • Spinophrynoides osgoodi (Loveridge, 1932)

Osgood's Ethiopian toad (Altiphrynoides osgoodi formerly known as Spinophrynoides osgoodi) is a possibly extinct species of toad in the family Bufonidae endemic to the mountains of south-central Ethiopia. It was named for the American biologist Wilfred Hudson Osgood who carried out fieldwork in Ethiopia for the Field Museum in 1926–27.[4] He collected the original specimens of Osgood's Ethiopian toad and three other endemic species of anuran.[5]

Distribution

The toad was common in the Bale Mountains National Park and other montane environments east of the Great Rift Valley, and was also said to be present in an isolated population in the Gughe Mountains, although the existence of this population was based on a single specimen which may have been misidentified. If the putative population in the Gughe mountains is not included then this toad's total range covered an area of 56 km2 (22 sq mi).[1]

Habitat and ecology

Osgood's Ethiopian toad is mainly a species of tropical montane forest, possibly extending marginally into open moorland. There is an observation of these toads breeding in a small pool, which was probably temporary, within a grassy glade surrounded by Hypericum woodland during April. Long strings of eggs were laid from which the tadpoles hatched.[1]

Conservation

The toad is rare; the last specimen was observed 2003, despite extensive survey work in 2009.[5] If it is still extant, it probably numbers no more than 50 individuals. It is threatened by habitat loss by subsistence exploitation of the forests. Chytrid fungus is very prevalent in amphibians in highland Ethiopia although there is no data on its impact on this species.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Altiphrynoides osgoodi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T54886A175788627. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T54886A175788627.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. 1 2 "Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference". Darrel Frost and The American Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2013). The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Pelagic. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-907807-41-1.
  5. 1 2 "Amphibian declines in Bale, Ethiopia posted by Michele Menegon". Stuart Marsden's Conservation Research Group. Stuart Marsden. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
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