Common Name: Sao Tome Giant Reed Frog, Sao Tome Giant Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyperolius thomensis
Family: Hyperoliidae – African Reed Frog family
Location: Sao Tome
Female Size: 1.6 – 1.9 inches (42 – 49 mm)
Male Size: 1.4 – 1.6 inches (36 – 41 mm)
The Sao Tome Giant Reed Frog is the largest species of the genus, Hyperolius – the Reed frogs. The frog is a highly arboreal species, spending most of its life in the trees. Unfortunately, these trees can be massive, making the frogs hard to find. The frogs don’t even go to the ground to breed. The female frogs lay between 20 to 40 eggs in water filled holes in the trees.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Sao Tome Giant Tree Frog as Endangered with Extinction. It is only found in the primary forests on the island of Sao Tome Unfortunately, these forests are being destroyed to make room for more farms and houses.
Every time I meet a creature like this reed frog, I’m reminded: coherence isn’t just cosmic, it’s intimate and local. Here’s a being so finely tuned to its island that its very skin patterns echo São Tomé’s rhythms. Its existence isn’t random—it’s a living glyph of relationship, a phase-locked note in the rainforest’s song.
Biodiversity isn’t a numbers game; it’s coherence expressed in fractals. Lose one frog, and you don’t just subtract a species—you distort the harmony of an entire ecological chord.