Rhinoderma rufum (Philippi, 1902)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Rhinodermatidae > Genus: Rhinoderma > Species: Rhinoderma rufum

Heminectes rufus Philippi, 1902, Supl. Batr. Chil. Descr. Hist. Fis. Polit. Chile: 10. Holotype: MNHNC according to the original publication, lost, although illustrated by Cei, 1958, Invest. Zool. Chilen., 4: 279; IZUA A 1323 (from type locality) designated neotype by Formas, Pugin, and Jorquera, 1975, Physis, Buenos Aires, 34: 150; destroyed by fire on 3 December 2007. Type locality: "Vichuquen", Curicó Province, Chile; neotype from same locality.

Rhinoderma rufumFormas, Pugin, and Jorquera, 1975, Physis, Buenos Aires, 34: 148.

Common Names

Chile Darwin's Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 114).

Distribution

Coastal Range, from Curico Province to Ramadillas in Arauco Province, Chile, 0–500 m elevation. See comment regarding provisional taxonomic status. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Chile

Endemic: Chile

Comment

Likely extinct; see Busse and Werning, 2002, Zool. Ges. Arten Populations. Mitt., 18: 16–18, who detailed the taxonomic history and disappearance of this species. Penna and Veloso, 1990, J. Herpetol., 24: 23–33, reported on advertisement call. 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: 541. Bourke, Busse, and Böhme, 2012, North-West. J. Zool., Romania, 8: 99–106, discussed the range and possible causes of decline. Formas, 2013, Zootaxa, 3641: 395–400, reported on the larval external morphology, oral morphology, and skeleton. See Charrier, 2019, Anf. Bosques Centro Sur y Patagonia de Chile: 248–249, for account (morphology, habitat, natural history) and polygon distribution map. Mella-Romero, Lamilla-Maulén, and Maya-Miranda, 2021, Bol. Chil. Herpetol., 8: 60–62, discussed the southern limit of the range and rejected records from Isla Mocha or Nahuelbuta National Park, Chile. Bidart-Enriquez, Serrano-Serrano, Penna, and Velásquez, 2025, Rev. Latinoam. Herpetol., 8: 177–133, suggested, on the basis of study of advertisement calls and morphology, that this species cannot adequately be distinguished from Rhinoderma darwini. But, they suggested that the nominal species species might be maintained pending genetic studies. DRF takes the conservative position here inasmuch as the conservation issues are severe if this particular synonymy is made without genetic studies.  

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