Rhinella acutirostris
—
Sharp-nosed Forest Toad
Toads that look like this, common in the parts of Ecuadorian Amazonia that I visited, are unsettled taxonomically. My very knowledgeable guide Amanda Quezada told me that all the ones we saw are now considered to be Rhinella acutirostris. AmphibiaWeb says its database shows only Brazil and Colombia as countries of residence for this species, but also shows a Map of Life diagram that includes Venezuela, and also includes text that states that this toad is also found in Panama. Amphibian Species of the World claims the distribution includes parts of Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Anfibios del Ecuador shows it as widespread in Ecuador east of the Andes. Coloma & Duellman's Amphibians of Ecuador Vol II (2025) does not include this species at all. This species is part of the complicated Rhinella margaritifera group, from which newly-defined species are periodically split.
It's possible that there are multiple species of Rhinella in Amazonian Ecuador, but it's also possible that there's only one species with significant variation in appearance. The first one here has a much pointier snout than the second one, for example.
Here we have one covered in mosquitoes, one with a distinctive light colored vertebral stripe, and one perched high on a stick. I suppose none of these traits are mutually exclusive in general.
This one was trying to set some sort of toad record for perching on the longest stick.
Online references:
- Rhinella acutirostris account on AmphibiaWeb
- Rhinella acutirostris account on iNaturalist
- Rhinella acutirostris account on Amphibian Species of the World
- Rhinella acutirostris account on Anfibios del Ecuador