Almirante Trail toad

Almirante Trail toad
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Bufonidae
Genus:	Incilius
Species:	I. peripatetes
Binomial name
Incilius peripatetes (Savage, 1972)
Synonyms
Bufo peripatetes Savage, 1972 Cranopsis peripatetes (Savage, 1972)

The Almirante Trail toad (Incilius peripatetes) is a species of toad endemic to Panama. It is known from its type locality near Boquete, Chiriquí, and from Cerro Bollo, both in western Panama. The specific name peripatetes is Greek for "one who walks" and alludes to Charles F. Walker, a student of herpetology at the University of Michigan.

Description

It is a medium-sized toad, with an adult male reported to be 70 mm (2.8 in) in snout–vent length. Dorsal coloration is uniformly light brown or grey. The dorsum is rugose, without enlarged warts. The cranial crests are very prominent, whereas the paratoid glands are slightly small, smaller than the eye. The ventral surface is light brown. The rear surfaces of the thighs and the groin are dark brown or black, with some light spots in the groin. The hands and feet have fleshy webbing between the fingers and toes. There is no vocal sack in the males.

Habitat and conservation

This is a little known terrestrial toad inhabiting tropical montane forest at elevations of 1,500–1,856 m (4,921–6,089 ft) asl. It is likely to be affected by chytridiomycosis. Also some habitat destruction is taking place. It is listed as a critically endangered species due to an expected population decline in coming years.