Phyllomedusa trinitatis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Phyllomedusa trinitatis |
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The Phyllomedusa trinitatis, also known as the leaf-nesting frog or Trinidadian monkey frog, is a type of frog. You can find it in Venezuela and on the island of Trinidad. These frogs live in warm, wet places like forests, savannas, and even near ponds and ditches. Sadly, their homes are shrinking because of habitat loss.
One cool thing about this frog is that it has very little or no webbing between its toes. Scientists think this might help it hunt or move around in its specific habitat. A common enemy of young Phyllomedusa trinitatis (tadpoles) is the dragonfly larva. To protect itself, this frog can also produce a special poisonous liquid.
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What Does It Look Like?
The Phyllomedusa trinitatis has special glands near its eyes. It has black and yellow eyes and a bright green body. Its chest and chin are usually brown. However, the frog's color can change a bit depending on where it lives and how warm or cold it is.
As mentioned, this frog has no webbing on its hands and feet. Its back skin is smooth but has tiny bumps all over it. Male frogs of this species do not have vocal slits, which are usually used for making loud calls.
Where Does It Live?
You can find this frog in many parts of northern Venezuela, including states like Distrito Federal, Sucre, and Miranda. On the island of Trinidad, it lives in places like Arima and the Northern Range.
What Does It Eat?
Scientists believe that the Phyllomedusa trinitatis often hunts its food by quietly sneaking up on it. This is because it's a bit bigger and moves slower than some other frogs. Its special toe pad shape might even help it with this hunting style. The Phyllomedusa trinitatis is known to eat insects, such as field crickets.
Who Are Its Predators?
When the Phyllomedusa trinitatis is a tadpole, one of its main predators is the larva of the Pantal flavescens dragonfly. Researchers in Trinidad studied how these dragonfly larvae hunt. They found that the dragonflies didn't care if there were more tadpoles of Phyllomedusa trinitatis or another frog species; they would still hunt the Phyllomedusa trinitatis tadpoles.
Before they become adult frogs, the eggs of Phyllomedusa trinitatis are also eaten by tiny phorid flies. These flies can sometimes destroy a whole group of eggs!
How Does It Defend Itself?
This frog has several ways to stay safe from predators. When it feels threatened, it can release a poisonous liquid from glands on its back. Male frogs might also stay quiet instead of calling out, so they don't attract enemies to their location.
Scientists have also found that the frog's skin produces special chemicals called peptides. These peptides can help the frog fight off germs and might even be useful for making new medicines for humans, possibly for things like inflammation or diabetes.
Reproduction and Mating
The Phyllomedusa trinitatis usually mates around the end of the dry season and the start of the rainy season. Female frogs are generally bigger than males.
These frogs mate in plants near small water bodies, like ditches. Like other frogs, the Phyllomedusa trinitatis males call out to attract mates. Their call has a main note and several smaller notes. This loud call can also scare away other males who are trying to find female partners. The males that call the loudest often travel further to find mates. Some males, however, stay in one spot while calling. To avoid fighting, male frogs also wave their legs to show how strong they are to other males.
Breeding Site Attendance
Most female frogs only visit the breeding site once. If they visit more than once, it's usually about 27 days between visits. Male frogs often stay loyal to one pond, even if they visit two. Males can attend the breeding sites in different ways: they might stay for many nights, visit sometimes, or just once. Most males show up for multiple nights.
Life Cycle and Development
Life Cycle
Phyllomedusa trinitatis frogs mate and lay their eggs on plants above the water. Like other frogs in their group, they fold leaves around their eggs to create a protective nest. This leaf case keeps the eggs safe and protects them from rain.
The eggs are covered in a jelly-like substance made by the mother. This jelly is mostly water but helps prevent the eggs from absorbing too much water during rainfall. Unlike many other amphibians, Phyllomedusa eggs can die if they are left in water for too long.
These frogs don't seem to prefer any specific type of leaf for their nests, nor do they care how many leaves they use. The health of the leaves doesn't affect whether the eggs hatch successfully. When one embryo hatches, it can encourage other eggs in the clutch to hatch too. After hatching, the tiny tadpoles fall into the water below.
Physical Development
Scientists have studied how the toe pads of Phyllomedusa trinitatis develop. They found that adult toe pads have tiny pores in hexagon-shaped cells. The pads are flat and don't have grooves on the sides of each toe, which is different from many other tree frogs. The toe pads have about 12 layers of cells.
Researchers have tracked the changes in the frog's toe pads as it grows. They noticed that the front limbs develop faster than the back limbs in the early stages. By a certain stage (stage 38), all the toes are covered with a simple cell layer. As the frog develops further (stages 39-46), the toe pads widen, and a special groove around the pad becomes very clear.
Some studies suggest that, unlike other frog species, Phyllomedusa trinitatis might not have special "hatching gland cells" on their heads during development. These cells usually help other frog embryos hatch. This could mean that Phyllomedusa trinitatis has a different way of hatching. However, other studies have found these cells in more developed embryos, so scientists are still learning about this.
Research Challenges
Tracking these frogs in the wild can be tricky for scientists. They tried using small spools of thread (bobbins) and radio tags, but neither worked perfectly. An early attempt with fluorescent dye even harmed the frogs. While the tracking devices didn't greatly affect how far the frogs traveled, the frogs sometimes became tired after a few days. Radio tags didn't work well in areas with tall plants or high places because the signal got weak. Putting bobbins on the frogs sometimes caused them physical harm, like bruising.
See also
In Spanish: Rana tarsius septentrional para niños
