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Uncharismatic Fact of the Day
No one likes basking by the pool more than the pool frog! Pool frogs spend most of their time near slow-moving or still bodies of water including marshes, bogs, and ponds, where they bask in the sun on even the hottest days. They like the sunshine so much that they even breed late, typically in late May or June.
(Image: A pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) by Piet Spaans)
Wood frog! The only frog that lives in the arctic circle (I think?) Never seen em in person but I like em so :D
Have you seen the wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)?
I have now
Yes, in photos/videos
Yes, irl
I'm not sure
I did check to see if this is the only frog found in the Arctic circle, but it looks like the European common frog (Rana temporaria) is also found there. There may be other species found in the Arctic circle as well, I only did a small bit of searching. Wood frogs do have an incredible tolerance to cold, and partial freezing though, which is amazing! The Japanese tree frog (Dryophytes japonicus) has an even bigger cold tolerance, with a potential to survive temperatures as low as −35 °C (−31 °F) for up to 120 days.
frog of the day :)
Wow, this guy looks exactly how you’d expect a frog to look! It’s pelophylax fukienensis, Common name: Fukein gold-striped pond frog
(Image source)
Habitat: They live aquatically, usually in bodies of water found in subtropical lowland or montane forests. Sometimes they can make their way into rural garden areas. They prefer swamps but can sometimes be found in freshwater.
Found in: China
(Image source)
Little froggy that almost became minced meat. Good thing it didn’t jump as the mower blades were turning. Thankfully, I shooed it away.
Do you know why the name for the genus Rana changed to Lithobates? I never understood why it changed.
Well, it didn’t. It only changed for some members. Essentially what happened is that molecular phylogenetics showed that the American members of the former genus Rana, in the broad sense, were distinct from European members. As a result, it was necessary or appropriate to change their name to the oldest existing available name for the group, which in this case was Lithobates. The debate was not a brief of simple one, but is summarised well here. Another genus, Pelophylax, underwent a similar change, with some species of Rana transferred to that genus in order to avoid the genus Rana becoming an over-generalised taxon.
Taxonomy is often a combination of hard science, history, and, more often than we would like, academic politics. Opinions and personalities can be strong in herpetological taxonomy, and often lead to fights—some of my own recent papers not withstanding.
American Bullfrog (Rana (Aquarana) catesbeiana) Tampines Quarry, 11th September 2016
Two juvenile American Bullfrogs were found along the shore of the lake in Tampines Quarry. They were alive when first spotted, but had died by the time they were seen again an hour later. The other individual was featured in an earlier instalment of Daily Decay.
Young, newly metamorphosed American Bullfrogs are widely sold in aquarium shops in Singapore as live food for large predatory fishes, although it's possible that these juveniles are also purchased to be used as bait for anglers, or are deliberately released by well-meaning people who do not understand the ecological harm that can result from releasing potentially invasive species.
Animals & Plants of Singapore
Non-indigenous frogs in Singapore
The Tide Chaser: Amphibians (Phylum Chordata: Class Amphibia) of Singapore
Ecology Asia
AmphibiaWeb
Amphibian Species of the World
USGS NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species
Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe
Global Invasive Species Database
IUCN Red List
Animal Diversity Web
National Geographic Animals
The emerging amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis globally infects introduced populations of the North American bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana
Prediction and validation of the potential global distribution of a problematic alien invasive species — the American bullfrog
Amphibian Pathogens in Southeast Asian Frog Trade
Uncharismatic Fact of the Day
Frogs and Cranberries, it must be fall! One of the most common frogs found in flooded cranberry bogs is the carpenter frog; though their drab coloring makes them easily camouflaged, they can often be heard via their distinctive 'hammering' call, which also gives the carpenter frog its name.
(Image: A carpenter frog (Lithobates virgatipes) by Kaitlyn Dunagan)
Lend an Ear to the Hole in the Head Frog
Huia cavitympanum, more commonly known as the hole-in-the-head frog, is a species of frog found only on the island of Borneo. It resides mainly in tropical forests, both in the lowlands and more mountainous regions, particularly those with fast flowing rivers.
The hole-in-the-head frog is named for its unique eardrums, which are recessed into the skull giving the appearance of holes in the sides of its head. This ear drum gives way to a canal similar to that of mammals, which enables H. cavitympanum to hear ultrasonic sounds (above 20 kHz). The species is otherwise quite plain in appearence, with a brown body marked with darker splotches and a stripe down its back. Adults can be anywhere from 4.6-8 cm (1.6-3.1 in) long; females tend to be larger than males.
Due to their ultrasonic calls, the hole-in-the-head frog can be quite difficult to locate, especially as they are active mainly at night. Like most frogs, the species is insectivorous, consuming a variety of beetles, flies, centipedes, and ants. They do most of their hunting along the forest floor, in the low undergrowth, or along riverbanks.
H. cavitympanum uses its high-pitched calls to locate mates along loud, fast-moving streams. Males gather at the edge of these streams and begin calling at the end of the dry season in August, and mating may continue well into the wet season. After mating, the females on rocks at the edge of the water line, and the emerging tadpoles cling to those rocks using an abdominal sucker until they fully mature. The lifespan of this species is unknown.
Conservation status: The IUCN has designated the hole-in-the-head frog as Least Concern. Despite its remote habitat, the species is threatened by habitat loss.
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Photos
Sandra Goutte
Alexander Haas
Sandra Goutte
