A solution to the enigma of the type locality of Telmatobius halli Noble, 1938 (Anura: Telmatobiidae), a lost frog for 85 years
For 80 years, there were no sightings of the Andean amphibian Telmatobius halli due to the ambiguity with which its type locality was described (“warm spring near Ollagüe”, northern Chile). The type specimens were collected during the International High Altitude Expedition to Chile (IHAEC) of 1935, but they were later described in 1938. Recently, in 2018 and 2020, two studies independently reported the rediscovery of the species. Although in these studies live specimens were analyzed and bibliographic references were consulted, both reached different conclusions about its identity and distribution. The 2018 proposal identifies the populations of the Chijlla-Choja and Copaquire ravines (previously assigned to T. chusmisensis) as T. halli, whereas the 2020 proposal identifies the hot spring “Aguas Calientes”, located in the Carcote salt flat some 12 km SW of Ollagüe, as its type locality. The problem with these two proposals is that these populations are more phylogenetically related to other species than to each other, so they clearly do not belong to the same taxon. Although the last proposal is more in line with the geographic information of the description, it does not consider some bibliographic details and the transport limitations of the IHAEC. Here, based on a detailed analysis of the chronicles of the IHAEC and other bibliographic sources, I first refute the 2018 and 2020 proposals and then provide a solution: the type locality of T. halli is Miño, an abandoned mining camp located at the source of the Loa river