Description
Adult females 33.4–39.0 mm in SVL, adult males 21.0–29.3 mm in SVL. Slender body with head longer than broad. Pointed to acuminate snout, with protruding upper jaw. Neural spines visible. Tympanic membrane, tympanic ring, and ostia pharyngea are all lacking. Well-developed postorbital crest. Dorsolateral and lateral surfaces bear small rounded or conical warts (lacking spiculae), most dense around the insertion of the arm and in a dorsolateral row on the lower back. The dorsal surfaces of the arm and leg are completely covered with warts. The hand and tarsus are also warty. Both outer and inner metacarpal tubercles are present and distinct. Basal webbing is present between Fingers II–III, and little to no webbing exists between Fingers III and IV. Finger III is relatively long. Fingers II–IV have broadened tips and subarticular tubercles at most joints. Thumbs have two phalanges. Hindlimbs are long. Subarticular tubercles occur at most digit joints for all toes. Feet are somewhat webbed, with the webbing formula ranging from −0+V to −1+V. The outer metatarsal tubercle is rounded and the inner metatarsal tubercle is ovoid, about twice the size of the outer metatarsal tubercle. Males are smaller but have proportionately larger heads than females, as well as having shorter feet and thicker forearms. Males have nuptial excrescences on Finger I (Lötters et al. 2004).

Color in preservative is tan (light or dark), with warts and tubercles a lighter color, and darker color around the nostrils and upper loreal area. Some individuals show a yellowish tan snout tip and greenish tan upper eyelids. A brownish lateral band is visible in most specimens (and was reportedly present on the holotype when it was freshly preserved). Sometimes marbling is present on the head or hind limbs. Venter is lighter tan. Coloration in life is unknown (Lötters et al. 2004).

Preserved specimens of Atelopus vogli strongly resemble A. cruciger but can be distinguished by their uniform tan dorsal coloration (in contrast to the dorsal markings of adult A. cruciger), smaller size, smaller palmar and thenar tubercles, and by certain features of the sphenethmoid. Atelopus vogli can be distinguished from other uniformly colored, warty Atelopus species in the region by having the dorsal surfaces of arms and legs fully covered with warts, and basal hand webbing; other useful characters are the lack of spiculae and the presence of two thumb phalanges in A. vogli (Lötters et al. 2004).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Venezuela

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Originally found in Venezuela, on the southern versant of the Cordillera de la Costa. The type locality is thought to correspond to Pozo del Diablo, on the headwaters of the Río Güey, at 700 meters above sea level, at approximately 10°17′00″N, 67°37′04″W. At the time of collection in 1933, the habitat consisted of semi-deciduous humid forest, but that habitat has been completely lost due to clearing and burning of the forest. It now resembles savanna (Lötters et al. 2004).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
This species has been found only at the type locality (Müller 1934; Müller 1935; Rivero 1961), where over 400 specimens were collected over the years (Lötters et al. 2004). It has not been rediscovered despite extensive searches and is presumed extinct. It is thought to have bred in streams (Stuart et al 2008). Two preserved female specimens were each found to have about 260 eggs (1.0 mm in diameter) in their ovaries (Lötters et al. 2004).

Trends and Threats
The likely reason for extinction is habitat destruction by humans for agricultural use (Stuart et al 2008).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

Intensified agriculture or grazing

Comments
This species was originally thought to be a subspecies of Atelopus cruciger, since the main distinguishing characteristic initially appeared to be the color pattern (La Marca 1992; La Marca and Lötters 1997). Atelopus vogli was subsequently raised to full species status and described in detail by Lötters et al. (2004).

References

La Marca, E. (1992). ''Catálogo taxonómico, biogeográ fico y bibliográfico de las ranas de Venezuela.'' Cuadernos Geográficos, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida , 9, 1-197.

La Marca, E., and Lötters, S. (1997). ''Monitoring of declines in Venezuelan Atelopus (Amphibia: Anura: Bufonidae).'' Herpetologia Bonnensis. W. Böhme, W. Bischoff, and T. Ziegler, eds., Societas Europeae Herpeologicae, Bonn, Germany.

Lötters, S., La Marca, E., and Vences, M. (2004). ''Redescriptions of two toad species of the genus Atelopus from coastal Venezuela.'' Copeia, 2004, 222-234.

Müller, L. (1934). ''Über eine neue Rasse von Atelopus cruciger (Licht. u. Marts) von Venezuela.'' Zoologischer Anzeiger, 108, 145-155.

Müller, L. (1935). ''Sobre una nueva raza de “Atelopus cruciger” Licht. & Marts. de Venezuela.'' Boletín de la Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales de Venezuela, Caracas, 1935, 1-10.

Rivero, J. A. (1961). ''Salientia of Venezuela.'' Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, 126, 1-207.

Stuart, S., Hoffmann, M., Chanson, J., Cox, N., Berridge, R., Ramani, P., Young, B. (eds) (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, IUCN, and Conservation International, Barcelona, Spain; Gland, Switzerland; and Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2009 Atelopus vogli <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/6268> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Dec 3, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 3 Dec 2024.

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