yellow-striped pygmy eleuth

{{Speciesbox

| name = Yellow-striped pygmy eleuth

| image = Eleutherodactylus limbatus.jpg

| status = VU

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Blair Hedges, Luis Díaz |date=2010 |title=Eleutherodactylus limbatus |volume=2010 |page=e.T56719A11523010 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-2.RLTS.T56719A11523010.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| taxon = Eleutherodactylus limbatus

| authority = (Cope, 1862)

| synonyms = Eleutherodactylus (Euhyas) limbatus (Cope, 1862)

Euhyas limbatus (Cope, 1862)

Phyllobates limbatus Cope, 1862

Sminthillus limbatus

}}

The yellow-striped pygmy eleuth (Eleutherodactylus limbatus), also known as the yellow-striped dwarf frog, is a species of frog in the family Eleutherodactylidae from closed mesic and xeric forests in Cuba.

The yellow-striped pygmy eleuth is relatively brightly marked in orange-yellow and among the smallest frogs in the world, up to {{cvt|1.18|cm|in}} in snout–to–vent length with males marginally smaller than females.{{cite web |url=https://amphibiaweb.org/species/3021 |title=Eleutherodactylus limbatus |date=12 November 2007 |work=AmphibiaWeb |publisher=Berkeley, California |access-date=27 January 2020}} It is part of a closely related Cuban group that contains five additional described species (E. cubanus, E. etheridgei, E. iberia, E. jaumei and E. orientalis) and at least one undescribed species; most of which are of tiny size, relatively brightly colored and possibly aposematic (at least E. iberia and E. orientalis have alkaloid toxins in their skin). Among these, the yellow-striped pygmy eleuth is unique in being quite widespread in Cuba, whereas the others all have very small ranges in the eastern part of the island.{{cite journal | author1=Rodríguez, A. | author2=R. Alonso | author3=J.A. Rodríguez | author4=M. Vences | year=2012 | title=Geographic distribution, colour variation and molecular diversity of miniature frogs of the Eleutherodactylus limbatus group from Cuba | journal=Salamandra | volume=48 | issue=2 | pages=71–91 }}

Mating calls and reproduction

E. limbatus has a very intense mating call, but it is brief (6.9 to 24.8 milliseconds) and high-pitched (6.5 to 8.3 kHz), at a rate of 278 per minute. Female frogs have a single ovary and lay one egg at a time, which is subsequently buried in the ground, where it develops quickly.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091227003740/http://www.eleuthare.com/limbatus.html|archive-date=2009-12-27|url=http://www.eleuthare.com/limbatus.html|title=Ranita Pigmea|publisher=eleuthare.com}}

Image:SmallestFrogComparison.png

Habitat

These frogs are found in Cuba at elevations up to 1,150 m above sea level, in closed-canopy mesic and xeric forests. Their distribution is highly fragmented,{{cite web|url=http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=56719|title=Eleutherodactylus limbatus range map|publisher=IUCN}} with the total land area equaling 7,700 mi² (20,000 km²). Within this limited area, though, they are quite numerous.{{cite web|url=http://www.natureserve.org/infonatura/servlet/InfoNatura?searchName=Eleutherodactylus+limbatus|title=Eleutherodactylus limbatus|publisher=natureserve}}

yellow-striped pygmy eleuth

Mating calls and reproduction

Habitat

References

Further reading