Ecnomiohyla rabborum

Ecnomiohyla rabborum was a relatively large frog. The snout-vent length (SVL) of males averaged between , while in females it was between . The head was wider than the body and flattened at the top. The snout was moderately long with nostrils protruding from the sides near the tip. Viewed from the top, the snout was more or less elliptical in shape. The canthal ridge was concave (curves outward) and had thick and rounded edges. The loreal regions were similarly concave. The tympana was smaller in diameter than the eyes and slightly inclined. Smooth glandular structures (known as the supratympanic fold) extended over the tympana from the eyes to the edges of the lower jaw. The tongue was round, and the species possessed narrowly spaced ovoid groups of pre-vomerine teeth. ==Taxonomy==

Ecnomiohyla rabborum is classified under the genus Ecnomiohyla of the treefrog subfamily Hylinae, family Hylidae. It was first described in 2008 by a team of herpetologists consisting of Joseph R. Mendelson III, Jay M. Savage, Edgardo Griffith, Heidi Ross, Brian Kubicki, and Ronald Gagliardo. During its discovery in 2005, it was initially misidentified by the team as Ecnomiohyla fimbrimembra, but Kubicki recognized it as a new species. The type specimens were raised in captivity. They were obtained from tadpoles collected by Griffith and Ross from an area near El Valle de Antón, Coclé, Panama on July 15, 2005. The generic name Ecnomiohyla comes from Greek ecnomios ("marvelous" or "unusual") and Hylas, the companion of Hercules.{{cite journal|author1=Julián Faivovich |author2=Célio F.B. Haddad |author3=Paulo C.A. Garcia |author4=Darrel R. Frost |author5=Jonathan A. Campbell |author6=Ward C. Wheeler |year=2005|title=Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with special reference to Hylinae: phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision|journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History|volume=294 |issue=294|pages=1–240|doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2005)294[0001:SROTFF]2.0.CO;2|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/462/B294.pdf;jsessionid=DE759A59C1AD7D9E86AB26F48BDB108D?sequence=1 ==Distribution==

Ecnomiohyla rabborum was known only from the cloud forests of the Pacific-facing slopes of the mountains above the town of El Valle de Antón in central Panama, between the provinces of Coclé and Panamá. Its range had an area of less than at altitudes of . However, it has not been observed in the area since 2007. ==Ecology and biology==

Ecnomiohyla rabborum, like other members of the genus, lived in the forest canopy. They were nocturnal and fed on insects. The males of the species were highly territorial, defending water-filled tree holes used for breeding. The calling bouts happened only at night and lasted for about one to two minutes, with the intervals longer at the beginning and gradually becoming shorter. Aside from attracting females, the calls may also have served to warn off competing males. Mating occurred throughout the year, though the calls seem to have intensified two to three days before or after a full moon and during the peak mating season from mid-March to May. This was the first observed instance of any frog species doing this, though it was similar to the way some female caecilians feed their young. ==Conservation==

of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (visible as small globular bodies attached to an arthropod at the top and on algae at the bottom) At the time of its collection, the herpetologists who later described Ecnomiohyla rabborum were already aware of the encroaching threat of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (colloquially referred to by biologists as "Bd") in Panama. The origin of the disease is unknown, but there is speculation that it may have been introduced throughout the world via importation of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). In 2006, in the hopes of saving the species, the then undescribed specimens of E. rabborum that teams of herpetologists collected were sent to captive breeding facilities in the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Centre (EVACC), Zoo Atlanta, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. However, these efforts ultimately proved to be futile. The frogs thrived in these facilities but never mated. The last female died in 2009 in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. In an essay regarding the rapid extinctions of amphibians happening around the world, Joseph R. Mendelson III, the Curator of Herpetology in Zoo Atlanta and one of the scientists who first described E. rabborum, stated that herpetologists in the last 20 years are becoming "forensic taxonomists". Species are now being described just before or even after they have already gone extinct. On the situation of E. rabborum, he comments: Two males in Zoo Atlanta and Atlanta Botanical Garden survived until February 17, 2012, when one of them had to be euthanized to prevent suffering after a decline in health and to preserve valuable genetic material. Though the frog could have been allowed to die naturally, amphibians decompose rapidly. If it had died during the night when no personnel were present, it could have proven impossible to extract genetic material. The Deputy Director of the Zoo, Dwight Lawson commented: The last known observation of the frog in the wild was that of a single male heard calling (but not seen) in 2007. At the time of its last survey in 2009, the IUCN classified E. rabborum as Critically Endangered. More recent estimates deem the species effectively extinct in the wild. A single adult male named Toughie at the Atlanta Botanical Garden was the last known survivor of the species until his death. ==See also==