Dendropsophus ebraccatus

"Hourglass treefrog" redirects here. For other uses, see Hourglass treefrog (disambiguation).
Dendropsophus ebraccatus
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Hylidae
Genus: Dendropsophus
Species: D. ebraccatus
Binomial name
Dendropsophus ebraccatus
(Cope, 1874)
Synonyms

Hyla weyerae Taylor, 1954
Hyla ebraccata

Dendropsophus ebraccatus, commonly known as the hourglass treefrog or pantless treefrog,[1] is a species of frog in the Hylidae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, pastureland, plantations, heavily degraded former forest, and ponds.

The hourglass treefrog reproduces differently from most other frogs. It can lay its eggs on land or in water, depending on the environment. If it has shade, it will lay them on leaves of plants above the pond. If it has little or no shade, it will lay them in the water, usually attached to submerged vegetation. It is the only vertebrate known to be capable of this. Like many frog species within the Hylidae, the tadpoles of D. ebraccatus show predator-induced plasticity in their tail colour when exposed to dragonfly nymphs.[2]


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Notes

  1. ↑ Choi, C. Q. Transitional frog lays eggs on water and land. LiveScience May 18, 2008.
  2. ↑ Touchon, J. C.; K. M. Warkentin (2008). "Fish and dragonfly nymph predators induce opposite shifts in color and morphology of tadpoles". Oikos 117 (4): 634–640. doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2008.16354.x.

References