Description

Ansonia latirostra is a small, slender toad, measuring up to 23.6 mm SVL in males and 30.5 mm SVL in females. The snout is wide and extends beyond the jaw. The head is also relatively wide. Both the head and body are relatively flat. Interorbital ridges are present and tuberculate. The canthi are rounded and slightly constricted, and the lores are vertical. Cranial crests and parotoids are absent. There is a single large yellow rictal gland, which is tuberculate. The tympanum is distinct. Fingertips are rounded with the first finger shorter than the second. No webbing is present on the fingers. The toes are long, slender, and webbed with the third and fifth toes having one or two phalanges free of the webbing. Both an inner and outer metatarsal tubercle are present. The tarsal ridge is lacking. Males have a single vocal slit on either the right or the left side of the buccal cavity floor.

The skin is tuberculate on the dorsal and lateral surfaces, with large, rounded tubercles. Most of the tubercles have a brown tip, which is not keratinized. The scapular region has a large bulge formed from a cluster of tubercles. This scapular cluster of tubercles distinguishes A. latirostra from A. malayana, A. kraensis, A. siamensis, and A. endauensis. Dorsolaterally there is a single row of moderately enlarged tubercles. Tubercles are also enlarged in the temporal region. Subarticular tubercles are either weak or completely lacking. There are two or three rows of small tubercles below the mandibular region, and four to six rows of tubercles in the mental region.

The dorsum is black except for a brown interscapular spot and brown reticulum. The flanks are also black except for two brown spots. Below each eye there is a small cream-colored spot. The upper portions of forelimbs are cream-colored, with occasional spotting distally. On the hind limbs, thin, yellow crossbars made up of tightly spaced spots are present. Ventral surfaces are gray with small, sparsely distributed spots. The iris is golden brown.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Malaysia

Malaysian region distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Peninsular Malaysia

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Ansonia latirostra occurs in central peninsular Malaysia. The initial species description is from the state of Pahang. Since this species has only recently been described (Grismer 2006), the full extent of its distribution is not yet known. It appears to prefer rocky streams in closed-canopy hill dipterocarp forest. The holotype and paratypes were collected from the same locality, at 255 m elevation.

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species has been found perched on vegetation within two meters of the stream surface, or on top of large rocks adjacent to the water.

References

Grismer, L. L. (2006). ''A new species of Ansonia Stoliczka 1872 (Anura: Bufonidae) from Central Peninsular Malaysia and a revised taxonomy for Ansonia from the Malay Peninsula.'' Zootaxa, 1327, 1-21.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2007 Ansonia latirostra <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6816> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 28, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 28 Nov 2024.

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