Balebreviceps hillmani

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	BREVICIPITIDAE

Scientific Name:	Balebreviceps hillmani
Species Authority:	Largen & Drewes, 1989

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Endangered B1ab(iii) ver 3.1
Year Published:	2004
Assessor/s:	Malcolm Largen, Robert Drewes
Reviewer/s:	Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson and Neil Cox)
Contributor/s:
Justification: Listed as Endangered because its Extent of Occurrence is less than 5,000 km2, all individuals are in fewer than five locations, and there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat in the Bale Mountains.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is endemic to the Bale Mountains, east of the Rift Valley, in Ethiopia, where it has been found at 3,200m asl.
Countries:	Native: Ethiopia
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It seemed to be reasonably numerous in the type locality in 1986; the absence of recent records is due to a lack of survey effort.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It is known only from giant heath (Erica arborea) woodland, just below the timberline. All specimens have been collected by day from beneath logs and boulders. Its breeding behaviour is unknown, but females have been found to contain large and unpigmented ova, which is probably indicative of either direct development or at least of a terrestrial nest.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Direct damage to the narrow belt of giant heath with which this animal is associated, by either humans or their livestock, does not seem very likely in the near future, but would be disastrous. A more worrying possibility is the indirect harm resulting from logging of contiguous tall forests at a slightly lower elevation.

Major Threat(s):

Direct damage to the narrow belt of giant heath with which this animal is associated, by either humans or their livestock, does not seem very likely in the near future, but would be disastrous. A more worrying possibility is the indirect harm resulting from logging of contiguous tall forests at a slightly lower elevation.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	The type locality of this amphibian species is situated in the Bale Mountains National Park, although this protected area has not yet been formally gazetted. Conservation of Erica woodland and heath throughout the Ethiopian mountains is a high priority. Clearly, there is an urgent need to conduct further survey work to establish whether this species might be more widely distributed.

Conservation Actions:

The type locality of this amphibian species is situated in the Bale Mountains National Park, although this protected area has not yet been formally gazetted. Conservation of Erica woodland and heath throughout the Ethiopian mountains is a high priority. Clearly, there is an urgent need to conduct further survey work to establish whether this species might be more widely distributed.

Citation:	Malcolm Largen, Robert Drewes 2004. Balebreviceps hillmani. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013.
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