Alsodes australis Formas, Úbeda, Cuevas & Nuñez 1997

Diagnosis Can be distinguished from all other species of Alsodes by the following combination of characters: (1) Snout-vent length (SVL) 56.0-60.1 mm; (2) webbing present in the foot, but reduced; (3) toes strongly fringed; (4) 26 bi-armed chromosomes.

Known only from eastern side of the Andes in eastern Chile and extreme western Argentina from 46°25' S to 42°25' N.

Description of the holotype Head 1.3 times wider than long. Snout pointed in lateral view, rounded in dorsal profile, loreal region flat in cross section; nostrils dorsolateral, nearer the tip of the snout than the anterior margin of the eye; eye diameter 1.1 times the internarial distance. Tympanum absent. A well developed dorsolareral fold extending from the posterior border of the eye lo the arm. Tongue rounded with notch at the tip; premaxillary teeth and dentigerous processes of the vomer between the choanae. Limbs robust. especially forearm. Fingers in order of increasing length: II-I-III-IV. Webbing absent on hand: fingers with rounded tips. Inner palmar tubercle ovoid. flattened; outer palmar tubercle rounded; palmar and subarticular tubercles present. Subarticular tubercles of the first and secorid fingers bigger than those of the third and fourth and the palmar tubercles. Toes long and fringcd, in order of increasing lengih: I-II-III-V-IV: toes with the tips moderately pointed. Inner rnetatarsal tubercle oval; outcr tubercle roundcd and smaller tlian the inner rubercle: subarticular tubercles small when compared with the inner metatarsal tubercle. Exrernal fringe of the firsr toe reaching the metatarsal fold. Web present but reduced, pigmented and thick. Dorsal surfaces of the head, face and body granular. Arms, legs and ventral surface smooth; skin around vent and posterior thighs granular. Loose skin on the lateral areas of the body. Dorsal surface of finger I with black thorny nuptial pads. The internal borders of fingers II and III also with smaller thorns. Two rounded patches of thorns on the chest, smaller than thiose on the thumb and uniformly distributed. Distal tips of thorns dark brown. The border of the upper lips, cheeks, chest, and internal surface of the fore-arm with minute spines. Measurements of the holotype (in mm): scout-vent length 56.1, head length 15.0, head width 19.1, eye diameter 7.6, snout-nostril distance 4.6, internarinal distance 5.2, thigh length 26.0, tibia length 26.8, foot length 42.8. Coloration: In alcohol, dorsal ground dark gray with two dark spots on eyes. A narrow whitish mid-dorsal stripe on dorsum of paraiype IZUA 1628. Venter and trhoat whitish. Live specimens wiih dorsal ground, arms and legs light brown witli golden tints. Areas around the nostrils black, dark brown triangular zone converging backwards on head between the eycs. Anterior parts of the head and snout yellowish. Venter gray in formalin. Iris dark bronze with black reticulations. Larval morphology Body depressed ovoid in lateral view. Profile of the tip of the snout gently rounded. Nostrils rounded in shape, nor raised; with a cutaneus circular fringe pigrnentcd. Nostrils midway between the lip of the snout and the anterior border of the eye. Pupils circular with golden iris spotted by black reticulations (alive specimens). Eyes situated dorso-laterally. Oral disc translucent, in anteroventral position. Width of the disc slightly greater than interocular distance. Oral disc intraangular: rostral gap present and mental gap absent. A line of marginal papillae along the periphery of the disc except in the rostral region. A row of intramarginal papillae in the mental and lareral areas. Four to six papillae at supraangular regions. Rostrodonts wider than high. well keratinized. Suprarostrodonts and infrarostrodonts with serrations. Pigmentation (dark-brown) conspicuous in the infrarostrodonts: in the suprarostrodonts pigmentation present in the inner margins. Keratodont (denticles) formula: 2(2)/3(1). Spiracular tube sinistral and laterally located: distal end separated from the body (dorsal view): aperture circular with well defined borders. Proctodeal tube transparent wide, and vent opening dextrally: distal end as wide as the internarinal distance. Tail length 1.6 times the body length: tail axis straight. Dorsal fin begining in a fleshy crest on the posterior third of the body. Ventral fin beginning at the end of the proctodeal tube. Tail tip rounded. Maximum width of dorsal and ventral fins at the middle of the tail. Fin depth not exceeding the body depth. Dorsal and ventral fins transparent with minute melanophores in groups on the caudal myomeres. Superficial guanophores on dorsum, flanks and tail. Anterior part of the tail with abundant pigmentation; especially the dorsal areas. Hind limbs with melanophores. Dorsal areas of the body light brown and with two integumentary darks spots behind the posterior borders of nostrils. Ventral surface of body transparent and internal organs visible through. Areas around the nostrils and snout with melanophores. Color in life similar to that of formalin fixed specimens. Measurements (in mm) of 5 specimens in stage 38 (Gosner, 1960): total length 66.5±5.2, body length 26.4±1.2, body depth 12.2±1.0, fin depth 10.7±0.9, snout-eye distance 8.8±0.4, snout-nostril distance 5.4±0.2, mouth diameter 7.6±0.5, eye diameter 2.2±0.8

DD. Data Deficient.

Alsodes australis is a species of frog in the family Alsodidae found in western Argentina and eastern Chile (Aysén Region) from 46°25′S to 42°25′N. Its natural habitat is cold mountain streams of austral temperate Nothofagus forest. A potential threat to this species are introduced predatory salmonid fishes, but so far little is known about its population status.