AmphibiaChina 中国两栖类.

Conservation Status (definitions)

IUCN Red List Status Account Endangered (EN) CITES No CITES Listing National Status None Regional Status None

Description

The male is 53 mm and the female is 58 mm in body length. This species has vertical pupils. The tympanum is hidden. Maxillary teeth are developed. The back is full of spiny tubercles. The male has spines on the upper back, nuptial spines on the first and second finger, and a pair of large spiny clusters on the chest. Spines are thin and dense. The hind legs are relatively long, with the tibiotarsal articulation extending to the eye. Digit tips are rounded. The sides of the toes have extremely wide fringes, and the fourth toe is 1/3 webbed. The dorsum is grayish yellow with loosely dispersed circular black spots. The dorsal surface of the limbs have 4-6 yellow horizontal bands. The sides of the ventrum and the ventral surface of the limbs have sparse piebald markings.

Tadpoles are 65 mm long, with a head length of 25.9 mm. The body is palm brown. The labial tooth row formula is I:4-4/I:4-4. The center of the upper lip lacks 2-3 papillae. Additional papillae are present on the corners of the mouth (Fei 1999).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: China

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

O. chuanbeiensis has been found in two locations: Ping Wu and Maoxian counties in northern Sichuan province, between 1300 and 2000 m in elevation (IUCN 2006). It inhabits ravines and the surrounding forest (Fei 1999).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Outside of breeding season, O. chuanbeiensis is terrestrial. In the morning, these toads hide in the damp, moist soil of holes or in the crevices between rocks. At night, they become active, often crawling or hopping for short distances. During the middle ten-day period of May to the middle ten-day period of June, the toads enter small mountain streams to lay eggs beneath rocks. Females lay about 200 eggs in a ring or clump that sticks to the underside of rocks. Eggs are 3-4 mm in diameter, and have a milky yellow animal pole. The tadpoles disperse in the crevices between rocks along the streamside. In the morning they are active in the water, moving quickly. At night they lie prone on top of the rocks in the water (Fei 1999).

Trends and Threats
Due to its restricted range, O. chuanbeiensis is extremely vulnerable to habitat loss (IUCN 2006).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss

References

Fei, L. (1999). Atlas of Amphibians of China. Henan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Zhengzhou.

IUCN, Conservation International, and NatureServe. 2006. Global Amphibian Assessment. www.globalamphibians.org. Accessed on 06 July 2007.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2008 Oreolalax chuanbeiensis: Chuanbei Toothed Toad <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/5303> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 25, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 25 Dec 2024.

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