Telmatobius laevis Philippi, 1902

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Telmatobiidae > Genus: Telmatobius > Species: Telmatobius laevis

Telmatobius laevis Philippi, 1902, Supl. Batr. Chil. Descr. Hist. Fis. Polit. Chile: 43. Syntypes: MNHNC (2 specimens) according to the original publication; one of these now FMNH 9978 (on exchange from MNHNC according to Schmidt, 1928, Rev. Chilena Hist. Nat., 32: 103), which was designated lectotype by Cuevas, 2013, Herpetol. J., 23: 146, who also noted that the lectoparatype whose illustration conforms to the diagnosis of Alsodes nodosus is lost. Type locality: "Potrero", Chile (=? Potrero Grande, near Santiago, Chile). Cei, 1962, Batr. Chile: 63, noted that the type locality had not been located with certainty. Cuevas, 2013, Herpetol. J., 23: 145-152, on the basis of additional evidence discussed the likelihood that the type locality is 'a plateau "Potrero Grande' (3° 28′ 33″ S, 70° 23′ 54″ W), limited in the north-eat by the stream Recauquenes and in the north-west by the stream Covarrubias; to the south, this plateau is limited by La Encañada de las Condes. Potrero Grande is located to the west of Cerro de Ramón, in straight line with the city of Santiago". 

Alsodes laevis — Lynch, 1978, Occas. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Kansas, 72: 50.

Telmatobius laevisCuevas, 2013, Herpetol. J., 23: 145. 

English Names

Potrero Spiny-chest Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 70).

Distribution

Known only from the type locality (Potrero Grande. near Santiago, Santiago Province, Chile). See comment. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Chile

Endemic: Chile

Comment

Given that the species is known only from the lectotype, collected well over 100 years ago, begs the questions whether the species is either extinct or possibly synonymous with one of the other southern Andean species. My (DRF) first inclination was to treat this name as a nomen inquirenda, but because there is a type in relatively good condition, and a type locality that can be revisited I retain it as a valid taxon. See Lobos, Vidal-Maldonado, Correa-Quezada, Labra-Lillo, Díaz-Páez, Charrier, Rabanal, Díaz-Vidal, and Tala, 2013, Anf. Chile Conserv. 1–104, (as Alsodes laevis) for photograph, comments on conservation status, and range in Chile. 

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