Ecuador silent frog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ecuador silent frog |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Microhylidae |
| Genus: | Chiasmocleis |
| Species: |
C. antenori
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| Binomial name | |
| Chiasmocleis antenori (Walker, 1973)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Ecuador silent frog (scientific name: Chiasmocleis antenori) is a tiny frog that belongs to the Microhylidae family. These small frogs are found in parts of South America, specifically in eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and western Brazil (in the Acre region). Scientists think that this might actually be a group of very similar species, rather than just one.
Contents
Why the Name?
The Chiasmocleis antenori frog was named after a person called Antenor Leitão de Carvalho. He was a Brazilian zoologist who studied amphibians and reptiles.
What Does It Look Like?
These frogs are very small! Adult male frogs are about 11 to 12 millimeters (0.43 to 0.47 inches) long. Female frogs are a bit bigger, measuring 12 to 14 millimeters (0.47 to 0.55 inches) from their snout to their rear end.
Body Features
- Snout: The frog's snout sticks out strongly over its lower jaw when you look at it from the side. From above, it looks a bit flat.
- Ears: The frog has a clear eardrum, called a tympanum.
- Fingers and Toes: The outermost fingers are very tiny. Some people even think the first finger is missing. The other fingers have rounded tips and fleshy edges. The frog has four clear toes, and each toe has a small but noticeable disk at its tip.
- Color: The frog is dark brown on both its back and belly. It has small white spots all over. These spots are more numerous and larger on its belly than on its back.
Where It Lives and How It's Protected
The Chiasmocleis antenori frog lives in tropical moist forests. These can be old, untouched forests (primary) or forests that are growing back after being disturbed (secondary). They live in both dry land forests and areas that sometimes flood.
Its Home
These frogs can be found at different heights, from about 200 to 1,740 meters (656 to 5,709 feet) above sea level. You might find them hiding in leaf litter on the forest floor. They also like to live inside bromeliad plants. Bromeliads are plants that grow on trees and collect water in their leaves.
Breeding Habits
These frogs lay their eggs in small pools of water that collect in plants, like the leaf axils (where a leaf meets the stem) of bromeliads. These plant-held water pools are called phytotelmata. The baby frogs, called tadpoles, swim freely in these water pools. Interestingly, these tadpoles do not eat during their development.
Conservation Status
The Ecuador silent frog is not a very common species. In some places, its home is being lost because of habitat loss. This can happen when forests are cut down or when bromeliads are collected. However, this frog lives across a very large area. It is also found in several protected areas. Because of this, scientists do not consider the species to be in danger overall.
See also
In Spanish: Chiasmocleis antenori para niños
 | Audre Lorde |
 | John Berry Meachum |
 | Ferdinand Lee Barnett |
