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Melanophryne carpish
| family: Microhylidae subfamily: Gastrophryninae |
Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Peru
View distribution map using BerkeleyMapper. IUCN (Red List) status: Endangered (EN).
For Red List information on this species, see the IUCN species account.
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From the IUCN Red List Species Account:
Range Description
Melanophryne carpish is known from cloud forests at elevations between 2750 and 2960 masl in central Peru (Department of Huánuco: Cordillera de Carpish), and in northern Peru (Department of Amazonas: Laguna de los Cóndores: 6 50′49″ S, 77 41′40″ W). The distance between the two localities is 364 km (airline) (Lehr and Trueb, 2007).
Habitat and Ecology
Specimens have been found on the ground and in a pitfall trap near terrestrial bromeliads (November and February, respectively) and in the centre of a water-filled bromeliad about 1 m above ground during the afternoon (a gravid female, found in July). Melanophryne carpish is restricted to primary cloud forests with (terrestrial) bromeliads, which are used as hiding places and presumably for deposition of eggs. One female contained 83 pigmented eggs that have an average diameter of 1.6 ± 0.14 mm (n = 10) (Lehr and Trueb, 2007). Tadpoles were found in November in bromeliads (E. Lehr, pers. comm. 2008).
Stomach contents of one specimen revealed arthropods belonging to the following orders/families: Coleoptera, Juliaformes, Formicidae and Staphylinidae (Lehr and Trueb, 2007).Population
Melanophryne carpish is considered to be either a secretive and/or rare species (E. Lehr, pers. comm. 2008).
Population Trend
Unknown
Major Threats
The main threat is habitat loss due to agricultural expansion and firewood collection.
Conservation Actions
It is not recorded from any protected areas, making protection and maintenance of the remaining habitat a high priority.
Taxonomic Notes
The genus Melanophryne has recently been erected to accommodate two species, Melanophryne carpish (formerly Phrynopus carpish) and Melanophryne barbatula (Lehr and Trueb, 2007).
Citation
Edgar Lehr 2008. Melanophryne carpish. In: IUCN 2012
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