Description
Diagnosis: G. pachachacae can be distinguished from other species by its large size, tubercle on the heel, and by having finger I larger than II. (Catenazzi and May 2011)

Description: Gastrotheca pachachacae is a small frog with the SVL in males ranging from 28.7-29.2 mm and in females, less than 35.3 mm. The snout is bluntly rounded to vertical in profile. Skin on dorsal surfaces, including the dorsum, head, upper eyelids, and supratympanic folds, are finely tuberculated. Skin on the flank, belly, and posteroventral surfaces of thighs are granular. Arms are moderately robust and hands are moderately large, about one-third of SVL. Fingers are unwebbed and discs are relatively small and broadly rounded. Relative lengths of fingers, in increasing order are as follows: I,II,IV,III. Relative lengths of toes in increasing order, are as follows: I, II, III,V, IV. Toes are webbed. The dorsum is grey with few small dark flecks. Dorsal surfaces of limbs are pale brown with transverse bars on the thighs. The ventral surfaces of limbs are pink. Dorsal coloration extends onto the fourth and fifth toe only, and the other digits are of a cream color. Flanks are grey to pale brown with black flecks. The center of the flanks is similar in coloration to the dorsum, but has dark flecks. Dorsal surfaces of head and body are pale brown to golden, with few small dark flecks and no interorbital bar. The iris is bronze with black reticulations and the eye periphery is black. The tympanum is brown.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Peru

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

G. pachachacae is found in the Chinchay cloud forest of Pacobamba district in southern Peru at approximately 3,000 meters above sea level. All specimens were collected from the upper reaches of the Pachachaca River and were found at night on vegetation 1.5-3 meters above the ground. This suggests that G. pachachacaeis a nocturnal and arboreal species. (Catenazzi and May 2011)

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Gastrotheca pachachacae is particularly distinguished from its congeners by its higher dominant advertisement call of frequencies above 2.2 kHz (compared to frequencies below 2.1 kHz). The advertisement call consists of a long note lasting 956-1476 ms with pulses that have rates ranging from 27.6-40.9 Hz. (Catenazzi and May 2011)

Comments
Etymology: The species name refers to the type locality of this frog, which is a patch of cloud forest drained by a tributary stream of the Pachachaca River in southern Peru (Catenazzi and May 2011).

References

Alessandro Catenazzi, Rudolf Von May (2011). ''New species of marsupial frog (Hemiphractidae: Gastrotheca) from an isolated montane forest in southern Peru.'' Journal of Herpetology, 45(2), 161-166.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Gastrotheca pachachacae <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7659> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 21, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 21 Nov 2024.

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