The Saint Vincent frog (Pristimantis shrevei) is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is endemic to the island of Saint Vincent, in the Lesser Antilles.
Etymology The specific name, shrevei, is in honor of American herpetologist Benjamin Shreve.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2013. The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians. Exeter, England: Pelagic Publishing Ltd. 262 pp. . (Pristimantis shrevei, p. 197).
Distribution and habitat The Saint Vincent frog is endemic to Saint Vincent, an island in the Lesser Antilles and the largest island of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Its natural habitats are rainforests forest edge, and montane meadows; it has been recorded as high up as the upper reaches of La Soufrière, at close to above sea level. It has been suggested that the Saint Vincent frogs may have previously had a greater presence in lower-elevation areas, and been displaced from them by the introduction of Eleutherodactylus johnstonei to Saint Vincent.
Description Albert Schwartz gave the snout-vent length for males as and for females as . The maximum recorded snout-vent length for a male sits at , and the maximum for a female at . Saint Vincent frogs have a high variability when it comes to colour and patterns, but they generally have a rich wood-brown to rich tan dorsum, a dark interocular bar bordering the snout, streaks or dots of brown on a yellowish throat, red sides and red undersides of both the fore- and hindlimbs. Some individuals are patternless whereas others have a broad dark brown scapular "W", while others have various different patterns. The ventral surface is creamy.
The frog's primary method of calling is clicking, but on occasion it emits a longer, higher pitched call. The frog issues its calls from the leaves of trees and shrubs. At very high elevations, such as those of La Soufrière, the frog's calls have a somewhat lower pitch, theorized to be due to lower body temperatures caused by the colder high-altitude environment.
Conservation status The Saint Vincent frog is threatened by habitat loss caused by urbanization, tourism development, and agriculture, and is listed as an endangered species.
References
Further reading Kaiser H, Hardy JD Jr, Green DM. 1994. Taxonomic status of Caribbean and South American frogs currently ascribed to Eleutherodactylus urichi (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Copeia 1994: 780-796. (Eleutherodactylus shrevei). . Schwartz A, Thomas R. 1975. A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Eleutherodactylus urichi shrevei, p. 38).