Description
Adult males measure 22.7-25.8 mm SVL. Head slightly longer than wide, roughly equal in width to body. Tympanum round, barely distinct or indistinct, measuring one-third of eye diameter. Supratympanic fold barely distinct. Snout rounded to subacuminate in lateral view. Nares barely protruding. Distinct round canthus rostralis with a slightly concave loreal region. Rounded tongue. Small rounded choanae. Dentigerous process of vomer bears three vomerine teeth on each side (six total). Finger I slightly shorter than Finger II. Fingers III and IV bear enlarged discs. Fingers lack lateral keels. Subarticular tubercles on fingers are large, round, and protuberant. Palmar tubercle is flattened and bifid, and larger than the thenar tubercle, which is oval. Axillary tubercles, ulnar tubercles, and supernumerary tubercles (on fingers) are lacking. Hind limbs are relatively long, with adpressed heels reaching to nostrils. Toes have discs (narrower than on fingers, but lack webbing, fringes and lateral keels. Toes have single large, round subarticular tubercles and small, low supernumerary tubercles. The inner oval metatarsal tubercle is round and is three times as large as the outer metatarsal tubercle, which is indistinct. Calcars and tarsal folds are lacking. The dorsal skin is shagreened while the ventral skin is areolate; throat is smooth. Males have vocal slits posterolateral to the tongue and a single large subgular vocal sac, but lack nuptial pads (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

In life, the dorsum is greenish-gray or dark brown to reddish brown, with a reddish reticulation. The head has a black interorbital bar, a dark supratympanic stripe, and brown labial bars. No canthal stripe is present. In the scapular area, there is a distinctive W-shaped dark brown to orange marking. Limbs and flanks are generally barred with dark-brown to reddish bands. The venter is gray or pink. The iris is bronze with a fine black network (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

In preservative, the dorsum is pink, orange, or gray. The head has a dark gray to brown interorbital bar and labial bars. The scapulum bears a pink to gray W-shaped marking. Flanks have pale brown bars. Venter is white with melanophores, which results in a gray cast (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Venezuela

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Endemic to Venezuela. Found in Sima Mayor, Sarisariñama-tepui, Estado Bolivar, Venezuela. Inhabits the tepui summit in medium-sized evergreen upper montane forests and sima forest at elevations ranging from 1,000-1,400 m ASL. Heard or observed at four localities. May also occur on Jaua and Guanacoco massifs (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Calls generally consist of one to two notes, but on rare occasions, three notes, repeated at intervals of 2-6 seconds. Males call from tree trunks or mossy rocks about 1-3 m above ground, generally between 1600 h and 1900 h. Dominant frequency is 2500 Hz, with another harmonic at 2050 Hz (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

Comments
The specific epithet sarisariñama refers to the tepui where it is found (Barrio-Amoros and Brewer-Carias 2008).

References

Barrio-Amoros, C. L., and Brewer-Carias, C. (2008). ''Herpetological results of the 2002 expedition to Sarisariñama, a tepui in Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species.'' Zootaxa, 1942, 1-68.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2010 Pristimantis sarisarinama: Sarisariñama Rain Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7220> 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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