The Incachaca toad, Rhinella quechua, is a rare bufonid toad endemic to cloud forests and humid Yungas forests on the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes.Its distribution is small and fractionated, limited to altitudes between 1900-2600 m (6200-8500 feet) asl, and occurring only in two areas, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba departments (De la Riva et al. 2000; Cortez et al. 2004; Frost 2015).
A small light brown toad, Rhinella quechua measures about 50 mm (2 inches) in body size (snout-vent length).It has three darker dorsal spots and a lighter line down its back, darkly banded limbs and a yellow belly (Gallardo 1961; Cortez et al. 2004).A terrestrial species, it inhabits leaf litter and in forests and forest edges, active both at night and daytime.Breeding is known to occur in February, and females are thought to lay eggs in flowing water (Köhler 2000).
The population of Incachaca toad is decreasing, threatened by loss of habitat due to agricultural expansion and pollution.Parasites are a common problem for this species, in particular a trombidiid mite which causes skin pustules (Köhler 2000; De la Riva 1997 as sited in Köhler).Furthermore, in 2007, Rhinella quechua tadpoles from the Huayramayu River in Carrasco National Park were tested and found to host the first record in Bolivia of the chitrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a pathogen causing large scale mortalities in susceptible types of amphibians world-wide.It is not yet clear how or whether this pathogen will impact Incachaca toad populations (Barrionuevo et al. 2008).
