Telmatobius culeus [SEP] IUCN conservation status
Telmatobius culeus
Telmatobius culeus, commonly known as the Titicaca water frog, is a very large and critically endangered species of frog in the family Telmatobiidae. It is entirely aquatic and only found in Lake Titicaca and rivers that flow into this lake in the Andean highlands of South America. In reference to its excessive amounts of skin, it has jokingly been referred to as the Titicaca scrotum water frog.
It is closely related to the smaller, more widespread and semi-aquatic marbled water frog ("T. marmoratus")
and wetlands in the Andean highlands at altitudes between . The genus includes two of the world's largest fully aquatic frogs, the Lake Junin frog ("T. macrostomus") and Titicaca water frog ("T. culeus"), but the remaining are considerably smaller. "Telmatobius" contains more than 60 species; the vast majority seriously threatened, especially from habitat loss, pollution, diseases (chytridiomycosis and nematode infections), introduced trout, and capture for human consumption. The three Ecuadorian species have not been seen for years