It is endemic to Ecuador where it is only known from its type locality, "Pailas" in the Morona-Santiago Province, on the eastern slope of the Andes.

[3] Scientists know this frog exclusively from the type locality, a cloud forest on a mountain 2195 meters above sea level.

[1] Scientists saw this frog in a protected park: Parque Nacional Rio Negro Sopladora.

[1] Scientists have not observed this frog's young in the wild, but they infer that the tadpoles develop in streams.

[1] Scientists caught and examined at four adult specimens in 1962, but this species has not been formally observed since.