Plate 049 · swimming over the bed of a mountain stream IdentificationFour marks on the plate
- 1Broad, flat head, hence the name laticeps.
- 2Upward-facing eyes, for looking up from the bottom.
- 3Loose, folded skin on flanks and thighs.
- 4Webbed hind feet for swimming against the current.
Easily confused with Argentine Water FrogTelmatobius pisanoiLives higher, between 3,600 and 4,200 m in Tucumán. 049 / 100 · AMPHIBIANS · TELMATOBIIDAECRITICALLY ENDANGERED Tucumán Water Frog
Telmatobius laticeps
Rana acuática de Tafí · Tafí Water Frog
A frog that never leaves the water. It exists only in streams of the Tafí valley and breathes mostly through its loose, wrinkled skin. The IUCN estimates no more than 49 adults remain and lists it as possibly extinct.
- Altitude
- 1,900 – 3,100 m
- Population
- ≤ 49 adults (IUCN 2019)
- Range
- Tafí valley only
- Lifestyle
- fully aquatic
- Tucumán endemic
- Fully aquatic
- Critically Endangered
- Mountain streams
Altitude rangeStreams of the Tafí valley
Known records It has been found in streams running through bogs, grassland and areas with scattered trees, not in closed forest.
FoodHunts on the bottom
- Aquatic larvaecaddisflies, mayflies, flies
- Insects that fall inat the surface
- Small snailsamong stones
- Wormsin the mud
Its diet is poorly studied; in the genus Telmatobius stream-bed invertebrates dominate.
BehaviourA life underwater
- Always in the water. It lives, hunts and breeds inside the stream.
- Breathes through the skin. Folds of loose skin add surface to take oxygen from the cold water.
- Gravely threatened. Introduced trout, chytrid disease and diverted streams have pushed it to the brink.
Where to look in Tucumán- Tafí del Valle (RP 307)
- El Mollar (valle de Tafí)