Description
A Mucubatrachus having the following characteristics: (1) Dorsal skin strongly granular, usually with two small prominent glandular dorsolateral folds that extend from the eyelid almost to the lumbar region, 2 or 3 large post-rictal tubercles; sides with low tubercles, most evident in the ventral half; granular throat, venter with flattened tubercles, a fold posterior to the insertion of the arms and another at the base of the throat; ventral discoidal fold absent; (2) distinct tympanic membrane and annulus, partially covered by a supratympanic skin fold; length of the tympanic annulus approximately ½ the length of the eye; (3) snout subovoid in dorsal view, rounded in lateral view; (4) eyelids with a few flattened tubercles, none prominent; interorbital space rather wider than the width of the upper eyelid; cranial crests absent; (5) vomerine odontophores elongated, slightly distinct, behind and between choanae; oblique odontophores teardrop-shaped, slightly above the choanae; (6) males with a well-developed vocal sac, no cracking voice or nuptial excrescences on the fingers; (7) first finger on the hand much shorter than the second, discs slightly longer than wide, and flabelliform (fan-shaped); subdigital pads with well-defined circummarginal grooves; disc on the first finger of equal width to that of the previous phalanx, and about two times less than the discs of outer fingers; discs of fingers II, III and IV wider (1.5 times) than the previous phalanges; disc of the third finger covers about 1/3 to ¾ the width of the tympanic annulus; (8) fingers lack side flanges (some dried specimens may show indistinct side flanges); (9) ulnar tubercles flattened and not very distinct, usually paired, or one by itself with a transverse groove; (10) knee and tarsus without conspicuous tubercles. Often there is an obvious tubercle, but not very elevated, on the heel; tarsal tubercles not prominent; tarsal fold absent; (11) inner metatarsal tubercle oval, prominent; outer metatarsal tubercle rounded, not so prominent, from ¼ to 1/5 size of the inner tubercle; (12) toes with lateral edges but lacking interdigital webbing; toe V longer than toe III but without reaching the distal subarticular tubercle of finger IV; (13) dorsum gray or brown with numerous dark irregular spots; a faint narrow brown stripe commonly runs from the eyelids to the region near the cloacal aperture; occasionally (as in the holotype) specimens are seen with bars on the legs, although this is more frequently observed in juveniles; flanks same as dorsum; belly gray; digital pads and discs are more clear than the dorsum; sometimes there are clear spots on the thighs and flanks; (14) LRC ♂ ♂ 28.6-36.6mm; ♀ ♀ 38.2-49.0mm.

Species similar to Mucubatrachus lancinii include M. flabellidiscus and M. rhigophilus. M. flabellidiscus, a likely geographic replacement from the opposite side of the Sierra Nevada of Merida, differs from M. lancinii by possessing a marked cranial crest, larger, fan-shaped toe discs, and usually with a pattern of oblique bands on the flanks. Some Mucubatrachus rhigophilus give the impression of being larger than most of the M. lancinii, although this distinction disappears when considering total length in a larger sample size of both species. Mucubatrachus rhigophilus has more prominent tibiotarsal tubercles and post-rictal tubercles than M. lancinii and presents discs larger than the tympanic membrane, whereas discs are smaller than the tympanum in M. lancinii.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Venezuela

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (1 records).

Venezuelan Andean Cordillera of Mérida, in the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra Culata National Parks, in Mérida and Trujillo States, Venezuela, in páramo and subpáramo habitat between 2500 and 3400m asl.

Trends and Threats
Declining.

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

Intensified agriculture or grazing
Local pesticides, fertilizers, and pollutants
Disease

References

La Marca, E. (2007). ''Sinopsis taxonómica de dos géneros nuevos de anfibios (Anura: Leptodactylidae) de los Andes de Venezuela.'' Herpetotropicos, 3, 67-87.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2009 Pristimantis lancinii: Ranita de Lancinii <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/3004> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Apr 16, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 16 Apr 2024.

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