Description
Eleutherodactylus albipes is a small frog, reaching 33 mm in adult females; the adult males are smaller than the females. The vomerine teeth, behind the choanae, are in a transverse and long series. There is no webbing between the toes, and digital discs are small or absent (Barbour and Shreve 1937; Schwartz and Henderson 1985; Schwartz and Henderson 1991). .

This frog is dark brown to grayish, sometimes with a broad whitish lateral streak. The hind limbs are crossbanded with darker bars, at times indistinctly so. Often there is a dark groin spot. Concealed surfaces of the femur are whitish yellow. Hands and feet are yellowish white, above and below. The venter is whitish yellow, spotted with brown spots and a few small whitish spots (Barbour and Shreve 1937; Schwartz and Henderson 1985; Schwartz and Henderson 1991).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Cuba

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

This species is endemic to Cuba. It is known only from Sierra del Turquino in the Sierra Maestra mountains, at the highest elevations of eastern Cuba, 1700-1974 m above sea level. (Garrido and Jaume 1984; Schwartz and Henderson 1991). This is a terrestrial species, found in the leaf litter of rainforests and cloud forests (Diaz et al. 2005).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The natural history of this species is unknown.

Trends and Threats
Severe habitat modification and destruction represent the principal threats to this species, resulting from deforestation (clear-cutting and charcoaling), agriculture, disturbance from tourist activities, and infrastructure development for human settlement (Vales et al. 1998; Hedges and Diaz 2004).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities
Intensified agriculture or grazing
Urbanization

Comments
Eleutherodactylus albipes is a member of the Eleutherodactylus dimidiatus group, in the subgenus Euhyas. Related species include Eleutherodactylus maestrensis, E. dimidiatus and E. emiliae (Heinicke et al. 2007).

References

Barbour, T., and Shreve, B. (1937). “Novitates Cubanae.” Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 80(9), 377-387.

Díaz, L. M., Fong, A., Viña, N., and Knell, G. (2005). ''Amphibians and reptiles.'' Cuba: Parque Nacional La Bayamesa. Rapid Biological Inventories Report 13. D. Maceira, A. Fong, W. S. Alverson, and T. Wachter, eds., The Field Museum, Chicago.

Garrido, O. H., and Jaume, M. L. (1984). ''Catálogo descriptivo de los anfibios y reptiles de Cuba.'' Doñana, Acta Vertebrata, 11(2), 5-128.

Hedges, S. B. and Díaz, L. M. (2004). Eleutherodactylus albipes. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/. Downloaded on 10 November 2007.

Heinicke, M. P., Duellman, W. E., Hedges, S. B. (2007). ''Major Caribbean and Central American frog faunas originated by ancient oceanic dispersal.'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(24), 10092-10097.

Schwartz, A., and Henderson, R. W. (1985). A Guide to the Identification of the Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies Exclusive of Hispaniola. Milwaukee Public Museum, Inland Press, Milwaukee.

Schwartz, A., and Henderson, R. W. (1991). Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Vales, M., Álvarez, A., Montes, L., and Ávila, A. (1998). Estudio Nacional sobre la Diversidad Biológica en la República de Cuba. CESYTA, Madrid.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2007 Eleutherodactylus albipes: Turquino White-footed Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/2756> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 26, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 26 Nov 2024.

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