It is found in the central and southern highlands of Guatemala and adjacent Honduras.

[1][3] The specific name ibarrai honors Jorge Alfonso Ibarra (1921–2000), then-director of the Guatemalan National Natural History Museum.

The snout is weakly pointed in dorsal view and rounded laterally.

[2] Incilius ibarrai occurs in pine-oak, premontane, and lower montane moist forests at elevations of 1,360–2,020 m (4,460–6,630 ft) above sea level.

Chytridiomycosis is also as a possible threat, and may have caused the decline of some formerly robust populations, e.g., in the Sierra de las Minas biosphere reserve.