Common Name: Fleischmann’s Glass Frog, Northern Glass Frog
Scientific Name: Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni
Family: Centrolenidae– Glass Frog Family
Location: Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, and Venezuela
Size: 1.2 inches (30 mm)
The Fleischmann’s Glass Frog is an arboreal (tree living) and nocturnal (active at night) species of frog that is found in rain forests. During the day, the frogs hide on the underside of the leaves, camouflaging in to hide themselves from predators. The females of the species are larger than the males.
The males of the species are pretty territorial, even fighting with other males that encroach on their territory. They have even adapted a hook on its spine to aid in the fighting, that the females don’t posses. The males will fight until one is pinned down. The mating season for them are quite long, lasting from early March to late November. After the female selects a mate, they will lay their eggs (generally 18 to 30 eggs) on leaves overhanging a stream.
The male frogs will protect the eggs, including releasing bladder water on the eggs to prevent them from drying out. This practice is called hydric brooding, which can be difficult to balance. If the male frog pees too little on the eggs, the eggs will dry out. If they pee on the eggs too much, the eggs will be more susceptible to fungal infections. Once the eggs hatch, the tadpoles fall into the stream where they will complete their metamorphosis.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categorizes the frog as Least Concern for Extinction. They have a wide range and a presumed wide range.
