Blue-sided Leaf Frog
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| Agalychnis annae Duellman, 1963 |
Agalychnis annae, commonly known as either the Blue-Sided Leaf Frog or the Yellow-Eyed Leaf Frog, is an endangered tree frog of the Hylidae family native to Costa Rica.
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[edit] Description
The Blue-Sided Leaf Frog, also known as the Yellow Eyed Leaf Frog or Golden Eyed Leaf Frog, is a phylomedusine frog measuring from 6 to 7 centimeters in length. It has yellow eyes, a green back, an orange belly, and a blue stripe along both of its sides. Like other tree frogs, it possesses webbed feet and suction toes that enable it to climb trees and move on slippery surfaces. Like all members in its genus, this canopy-dwelling form is nocturnal and sexually dimorphic (females are larger). Its skin changes to a darker green in the dark. The diet consists on a variety of arthropods, and this species will eat just about anything it can catch and fit into its mouth. Captive specimen are typically fed crickets.
[edit] Habitat
The Blue-Sided Leaf Frog is native to Costa Rica and lives in premontane moist and wet forests, as well as rainforests. While it was formerly common in both Tapanti National Park and Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, it has now disappeared from both of those locations, surviving near heavily polluted streams in San José and its suburbs.
[edit] Population status
There has been an estimated population drop of more than 50 percent since 1990, leading to the placement of the Blue-Sided Leaf Frog on the Endangered Species List. As of present, the population continues to decrease.
The fungal disease chytridiomycosis may be a main factor in the Blue-Sided Leaf Frog's decline in certain areas. Frogs may have a better chance of survival in San José than in the parks where they had previously lived, since the chytrid fungus may be more sensitive to pollution than the frog. Habitat loss, pollution, and the gathering of these frogs may also be contributing to their decline in number.
[edit] References
- Pounds et al (2004). Agalychnis annae. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map, a brief justification of why this species is endangered, and the criteria used
