Aromobates leopardalis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	ANURA	AROMOBATIDAE

Scientific Name:

Aromobates leopardalis

Species Authority:

(Rivero, 1978)

Common Name/s:

Spanish

–

Sapito Leopardo

Synonym/s:

Colostethus leopardalis Rivero, 1978

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Critically Endangered A2ace; B2ab(v) ver 3.1

Year Published:

2010

Assessor/s:

Enrique La Marca, Juan Elías García-Pérez

Reviewer/s:

Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson, Neil Cox and Bruce Young)

Contributor/s:

Justification:
Listed as Critically Endangered because of a drastic population decline, estimated to be more than 80% over the last ten years, inferred from the apparent disappearance of most of the population (perhaps due to chytridiomycosis); and because its Area of Occupancy is less than 10 km2, all individuals are in a single location, and there is continuing decline in the number of mature individuals.

History:

2004

–

Critically Endangered

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is known only from a very restricted area near Páramo de Mucubají, Sierra de Santo Domingo, in estado Mérida, in the Venezuelan Andes, from 2,435-3,300m asl.
Countries:	Native: Venezuela
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It has not been seen in at least a decade, and its range is very much reduced.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It inhabits páramo grassland and sub-páramo shrubland environments and cloud forest, the highest environments in the Venezuelan Andes, resembling alpine tundra, but with daily temperature extremes. It is usually found within grasses and frailejones (Espeletia spp.), usually along and within streams.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Introduced trout and possibly disease might be threatening this species. This species shares its habitat with Atelopus mucubajiensis, a páramo frog well known for having experienced a dramatic population decline (La Marca and Reinthaler 1994; Lotters 1996; La Marca and Lötters 1997) probably due to chytridiomycosis, and so this disease must also be suspected in C. leopardalis.

Major Threat(s):

Introduced trout and possibly disease might be threatening this species. This species shares its habitat with Atelopus mucubajiensis, a páramo frog well known for having experienced a dramatic population decline (La Marca and Reinthaler 1994; Lotters 1996; La Marca and Lötters 1997) probably due to chytridiomycosis, and so this disease must also be suspected in C. leopardalis.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	There is a population within Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada (Mérida State), in the Venezuelan Andes. Surveys are required to determine the population status of this species and whether it has been affected by disease. Given the potential risk of disease, there might be a need for the establishment of a captive-breeding programme.

Conservation Actions:

There is a population within Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada (Mérida State), in the Venezuelan Andes. Surveys are required to determine the population status of this species and whether it has been affected by disease. Given the potential risk of disease, there might be a need for the establishment of a captive-breeding programme.

Citation:	Enrique La Marca, Juan Elías García-Pérez 2010. Aromobates leopardalis. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 June 2013.
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