Telmatobius cirrhacelis

Telmatobius cirrhacelis
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Telmatobiidae
Genus: Telmatobius
Species:
T. cirrhacelis
Binomial name
Telmatobius cirrhacelis
Trueb, 1979

The orange-dotted kayla, kaylan punteada naranja, or Loja water frog (Telmatobius cirrhacelis) is a frog. It lives in Ecuador.[2][3][1]

Body

The adult male frog is about 56.6 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 49.6 to 68.7 mm long. The skin of the frog's back is brown in color with big orange spots. There are orange spots on the tops of the legs. The sides of the body and legs are olive-brown in color. The frog's belly is gray and light orange in color. The front and back feet are grayer in color with some marks.[3]

Name

Scientists named the frog using Greek words: kirrhos for "orange" and kelis for "spot."[3]

Home

This frog lives in cold forests with moss, lichen, and other plants. It lives near streams. Scientists saw this frog between 2700 and 3200 meters above sea level.[1]

Most of these frogs live in one protected park: Parque Nacional Podocarpus.[1]

Danger

Scientists say this frog is in very big danger of dying out. They think there are no more than 49 adults alive at any time now. Scientists think diseases, for example chytridiomycosis, have killed these frogs. Changes in the weather might have killed them too. Human beings also change the places where the frogs live to make farms, get wood to build with, and make places for animals to eat grass. Sometimes people catch this frog to eat.[1]

First paper

  • Trueb, L. (1979). "Leptodactylid Frogs of the Genus Telmatobius in Ecuador with the Description of a New Species.". Copeia (4): 714–733.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2022). "Loja Water Frog: Telmatobius cirrhacelis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T57331A98655419. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T57331A98655419.en. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  2. Frost, Darrel R. "Telmatobius cirrhacelis Trueb, 1979". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Samuel Malone (June 16, 2015). Gordon Lau (ed.). "Telmatobius cirrhacelis Trueb, 1979". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 3, 2025.