Telmatobius

Telmatobius is a genus of frogs native to the Andean highlands in South America, where they are found in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Argentina and northern Chile. It is the only genus in the family Telmatobiidae. Some sources recognize Batrachophrynus as a valid genus distinct from Telmatobius. ==Etymology== The word Telmatobius is derived from the Greek: τέλμα (télma, "swamp") and βίος (bios, "life").

== Ecology and conservation == All Telmatobius species are closely associated with water and most species are semi-aquatic, while a few are entirely aquatic. They are found in and near lakes, rivers 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. In terms of tadpoles, the species with the largest tadpoles tend to be in higher elevated streams and lakes. This includes the species T. culeus, T. macrostomus, T. mayoloi, and T. gigas. 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.