Atelopus elegans (Boulenger, 1882)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Bufonidae > Genus: Atelopus > Species: Atelopus elegans

Phryniscus elegans Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 155. Holotype: BMNH 82.7.13.2, according to A.G.C. Grandison in Hoogmoed, 1985, in Frost (ed.), Amph. Species World: 29, now renumbered BM 1947.2.14.74, according to museum records. Type locality: "Tanti, 2000 feet [=588 m elevation]", Ecuador. 

Atelopus elegansBoulenger, 1894, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 6, 14: 375.

Atelopus gracilis Barbour, 1905, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 46: 102. Syntypes: MCZ 2423 (14 specimens), by original designation; including ANSP 19427 and 26069 (presumably on exchange from MCZ), according to Malnate, 1971, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 123: 351, and USNM 52401 (formerly MCZ 2423) and 118219 according to Cochran, 1961, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 220: 30; Peters, 1952, Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 539: 11, regarded UMMZ 48072 and 50099 as "cotypes"; this was emended by Kluge, 1983, Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 166: 23, to include UMMZ 48072, 50099, and 60301 as syntypes; BMNH 1947.2.14.55 (formerly 1912.9.4.7) is a syntype according to museum records. Type locality: "Gorgona Island", Departamento Nariño, Colombia. Synonymy by Parker, 1926, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 9, 17: 553; Rivero, 1963, Caribb. J. Sci., 3: 109.

Atelopus elegans gracilisRivero, 1963, Caribb. J. Sci., 3: 109.

Atelopus varius elegansCochran and Goin, 1970, Bull. U.S. Natl. Mus., 288: 133–135.

English Names

Elegant Stubfoot Toad (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 39).

Distribution

Humid premontane forest of northwestern Ecuador (Provinces of Cotopaxi, Esmeraldas, Imbabura, Pichincha, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas), 300–1140 m elevation; Gorgona I. off southwestern Colombia (Cauca).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Colombia, Ecuador

Comment

In the Atelopus flavescens group of Lynch, 1993, Alytes, 11: 77–87. See Boulenger, 1882, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 5, 9: 457–467, for an amplified description. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 165. Almendáriz C., Cisneros-Heredia, and Rueda-Almonacid, 2005, in Rueda-Almonacid et al. (eds.), Ranas Arlequines: 72, provided a brief account, photograph, and map. Marcillo-Lara, Coloma, Álvarez-Solas, and Terneus, 2020, Neotropical Biodiversity, 6: 1–13, reported on larval morphology. 

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