Tag: nature

Common Name: Senegal Running Frog, Senegal Kassina, Senegal Land Frog
Scientific Name: Kassina senegalensis
Family: Hyperoliidae
Locations: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Size: 2 inches (49 mm)

The Senegal Running Frog lives across a wide variety of habitats such as grasslands, shrublands, savannas, and wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to its large range, the frog could actually be multiple different cryptic species. More research and testing is needed to confirm this. The genus Kassina is known as the Running Frogs due to their weird walking they do instead of hopping like a regular frog. I don’t know why they call them running frogs instead of walking frogs though.

During mating season (spring to late summer), the male frogs call out from the edges of temporary or permanent water bodies to attract females. Once the female arrives, the male grasps her from behind in amplexus. Then, the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them. The female lays between 100 to 500 eggs. The parents provide no parental care for their offspring. The eggs hatch in 5 or 6 days and then the tadpoles take between 50 and 90 days to complete their metamorphosis.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assess the Senegal Running Frog as Least Concern for Extinction. They have a huge range and are presumed numerous throughout it.

Common Name: Beautiful Mantella, Parker’s Mantella, Splendid Mantella
Scientific Name: Mantella pulchra
Family: Mantellidae
Locations: Madagascar
Size: 0.82 – 1 inches (21 – 25 mm)

The Beautiful Mantella lives along the streams in the rain forests of northeastern Madagascar. They are mainly active during the day, thanks to their bright colors that warn predators that they are poisonous. Mantellas are very similar to Poison Dart Frogs (family Dendrobatidae), however, they aren’t closely related. The genus Mantella is split into five different groups and the Beautiful Mantella belongs to the Mantella madagascariensis group.

Mating season and the rainy season coincide. The males start calling to attract females with the first of the rains. Females lay around 50 eggs.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Beautiful Mantella as Near Threatened with Extinction. It is close to being listed as Vulnerable to Extinction. The frog lives a a strip of jungle on the northeastern side of the island. Sadly, the jungle is being destroyed to make room for houses and farms, make charcoal, or just for timber. Invasive eucalyptus is also destroying the normal forest habitat. More conservation actions are needed to help protect the species.

Mantellas are very popular in the pet trade but over harvesting of wild species is causing population declines. Always make sure you are buying captive bred frogs!

Common Name: Black Mountain Boulder Frog, Rock Haunting Frog, Rock Frog
Scientific Name: Cophixalus saxatilis
Family: Microhylidae – Narrow Mouth Toad family
Locations: Australia
Size: 1.96 inches (5 cm)

The Black Mountain Boulder Frog lives in the Black Mountain National Park and the surrounding areas in Northeastern Australia. They live specifically in boulder fields of the Black Trevathan Range.

The frog breeds between October and March, peaking in November and December following rain. Female frogs lay their eggs on land under rocks. The males of the species protect the eggs until they hatch. From the eggs emerge tiny froglets, meaning they skip a free tadpole stage.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Black Mountain Boulder Frog as Least Concern for Extinction. The frog has a very small range and a very specific habitat requirements. This has lead to it being labeled as Vulnerable to Extinction in the past but the population is stable and they are in a protected area.

Common Name: Stephen’s Rocket Frog
Scientific Name: Anomaloglossus stepheni
Family: Dendrobatidae – Poison Dart Frog family*
Locations: Brazil and Suriname
Size: 0.55 – 0.67 inches (14 – 17 mm)

The Stephen’s Rocket Frog is active during the day (diurnal) amongst the leaf litter in tropical rain forests. Reproduction happens between November and March, peaking in January. Females lay between 3 – 6 eggs on nest on land that is formed by 2 leaves, one on top of the other to create a hot pocket. The male frogs protect the eggs while the female leaves. Other females can come and mate with the male, leaving different clutches of eggs in the nest. The eggs hatch and a tadpole comes out. Interestingly, the male does not move the tadpole to a source of water but leaves it in the nest.

*Note on the family provided. Some people elevated Aromobatinae – Cryptic Poison Dart Frog subfamily into its own family which the Stephen’s Rocket Frog is part of. However, I don’t like it.

Stephen???

If you are like me at all, you are probably wondering who is Stephen? Why does he have rockets? Why does he have his rockets on rocks? The search for the answers to these questions took me on a deep mysterious journey. The man the frog is named after is Stephen R Edwards, a man who earned his PhD from Kansas. For his PhD, his dissertation was a phenetic analysis of the genus Colostethus in the family Dendrobatidae. Now you are wondering, the Stephen’s Rocket Frog is a member of the genus Anomaloglossus, wtf does this have to do with this other genus. Coloestethus was the originally Rocket Frog genus and was the genus that the Stephen’s Rocket Frog was in first.

Rockets on frogs? Sadly no, they get their name for appearing to be able to jump straight up like a rocket lifting off. This is not a defining feature of any of the frogs in the genus and many other frogs can do this so its a mediocre name. Now, you probably think this Stephen guy was the first one to find the frog, well….. no. In his dissertation in 1974, he predicted that this frog existed. It wasn’t until Marcio Martins discovered it in 1990 that Marcio named it after Stephens due to his prediction.

Conservation Status of the Stephen’s Rocket Frog

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the frog as Least Concern for Extinction. The frog has a wide range and a presumed large population. However, they haven’t updated the assessment since 2004 so this could be outdated (but probably not). Only known threat to the frogs is deforestation.

Common Name: Common Sand Frog, Cryptic Sand Frog, Catequero Bullfrog, Tremolo Sand Frog
Scientific Name: Tomopterna cryptotis
Family: Pyxiecephalidae – African Bullfrog family
Locations: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Size: 1.5 – 2 inches (38 – 51 mm)

The Common Sand Frog spends most of its time burrowed in the sands of the sub-Saharan savannahs and grasslands. They come up to the surface to breed at the start of the spring rains. The males call out from the edges of water bodies that are formed by the fresh rain. Once the female arrives, the male grasps her from behind in amplexus. Then, she lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them. Females lay between 1000 to 3000 eggs. Tadpoles hatch from the eggs between 1 to 3 days later. Neither parent provide any care for their offspring.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the frog as Least Concern for Extinction. They have a wide range and are presumed to be found throughout it.

Common Name: Seychelles Frog
Scientific Name: Sooglossus sechellensis
Family: Sooglassidae
Locations: Seychelles
Size: 0.64 – 0.69 inches (16.4 – 17.7 mm)

The Seychelles Frog lives in the leaf litter in the forests on the islands of Mahé, Silhouette and Praslin. They are one of the smallest frogs in the world. The females frog lay their eggs on the land. The frogs don’t need water because there is no tadpole phase. The eggs hatch directly into small froglets.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Seychelles Frog as Endangered. The main threats to the frog is invasive species and climate change. The habitat for the frogs is being reduced due to Cinnamomum verum, an invasive species. Sea water rise from climate change is suppose to decrease the size of the islands. The frog is only found on 3 small islands which doesn’t help with its survival.

Common Name: Java Indonesian Tree Frog or Pearly Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Nyctixalus margaritifer
Family: Rhacophoridae – Asian Tree Frog family
Locations: Indonesia
Female Size: 1.2 – 1.7 inches (31 – 43 mm)
Male Size: 1.2 – 1.3 inches (30 – 33 mm)

The Java Indonesian Tree Frog lives high in trees in the mountains on Java Island. Sadly, not much is known about the species.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Java Indonesian Tree Frog as Least Concern for Extinction. They were considered Vulnerable to Extinction until new populations of the frogs were found. However, the frogs are still threatened by habitat loss from cutting down forests to make room for more coffee, tea, and rice farms.