Red peeping frog facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Red peeping frog
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Eleutherodactylidae
Genus:	Eleutherodactylus
Subgenus:	Syrrhophus
Species:	E. rufescens
Binomial name
Eleutherodactylus rufescens (Duellman & Dixon, 1959)
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Synonyms
Syrrhophus nivicolimae Dixon and Webb, 1966 Eleutherodactylus nivicolimae (Dixon and Webb, 1966)

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The Eleutherodactylus rufescens, often called the red peeping frog or Nevado de Colima chirping frog, is a type of frog. It belongs to the Eleutherodactylidae family.

This special frog lives only in Mexico. You can find it near the Nevado de Colima mountain in Colima and Jalisco states. It also lives further east and south in Jalisco and Michoacán. Its natural habitat is warm, wet montane forests. Sadly, its home is shrinking, which puts it in danger.

What Does the Red Peeping Frog Look Like?

Male red peeping frogs are usually about 19 to 21.5 mm long. That's about the size of a small paperclip! One female frog that was studied was about 23.5 mm long. However, some male frogs have been found to be as small as 13 mm.

This frog has a short, somewhat rounded snout. Its head is quite wide, but its eyes are small. The tympanum, which is like its eardrum, is fairly large.

The skin on its back and legs feels a bit bumpy or "warty." These warts are small. The frog's color can change a lot. It might be gray, light yellow, orange-red, or even brown.

Often, the frog's neck and arms are darker than its body and legs. Most red peeping frogs also have a wide, dark-brown stripe down the middle of their back. This stripe has clear edges.

Where the Red Peeping Frog Lives and How It's Protected

The red peeping frog's natural homes are tropical lower montane forests. It also lives in pine and oak forests. These places are found at heights of 600 to 2,400 m above sea level. This frog lives on the ground, so it's a terrestrial frog.

You can find many Eleutherodactylus rufescens frogs on the slopes of Nevado de Colima. During the rainy season, there are even more of them. A big threat to this frog is the eruption of the Volcán de Colima.

Good news! This frog's home includes the Volcan Nevado de Colima National Park. This park helps protect the frogs and their habitat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed this frog as "Vulnerable." This means it needs our help to survive. Since that assessment, new findings show the frog lives in even more places to the east and south.