[1][2] It is found in the Risaralda Department and Nariño Department on the Cordillera Occidental of Colombia and on the western Andes in the Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Provinces, Ecuador.

[3][4] It is named after John Douglas Lynch, the herpetologist who collected the first specimens of this species.

[4] The species' natural habitats are cloud forests (including secondary ones) along streams at elevations of 1,140–2,075 m (3,740–6,808 ft) above sea level.

It has greatly declined in Ecuador, likely because of changing climate, but it is also threatened by habitat loss, alien species, pollution, and chytridiomycosis.

It is present in Reserve Las Gralarias and Reserva Estacion Experimental La Favorita, Ecuador.