It’s not green, the Madagascar bright-eyed or tree frog! Absolutely right. The Madagascar bright-eyed frog, Boophis madagascariensis, captivates less with colourful colours than with its impressive body size. It is a good six to eight centimetres long, individual specimens even ten centimetres from the tip of the nose to the coccyx. Among Madagascar’s frogs, it is thus one of the …
LesenSchlagwort-Archiv: Amphibians Madagascar
The sky blue reed frog
An especially pretty frog is the blue reed frog (Heterixalus madagascariensis) or Madagascar reed frog: There are yellow and sky blue variations, with yellow or orange arms, legs, hands and feet. In the sun, they often become almost white. Literature mentioned the sky blue frog for the first time in 1841: The French zoologist André Duméril and his assistant, Gabriel …
LesenGuibé’s mantella
You think poison dart frogs exist only at the Amazon? You are miles out! Madagascar has amphibians very similar to those, the Mantellas or coloured frogs. Like poison dart frogs, Mantella frogs produce a poison secreted via their skin, but it is completely harmless for human beings. Genetically, the Madagascan Mantellas are not related to poison dart frogs. Mantella frogs …
LesenAgainst the tide: A climbing Mantella
Actually, Madagascan Mantellae all look very similar: Striking colours, small and slender, terrestrial frogs. But one steps out the line: The climbing Mantella (Mantella laevigata). This Mantella was described in 1913 by British zoologists Paul Ashleyford Methuen and John Hewitt, who did a seven months lasting expedition to Madagascar two years ago. The climbing Mantella grows up to maximally 29 …
LesenThe not really fiery red frog
Madagascar’s dense, mystical rainforests offer a home to countless endemic (i.e. only here occurring) animals. Among them is a particularly colorful representative of the Madagascar frogs, a frog with the scientific name Boophis pyrrhus (from Greek pyrrhos = fire red). It can be found on the east coast and in the southern highlands of Madagascar, from Soanierana Ivongo near the …
LesenAmphibians in general
Especially the rainforests of Madagascar offer an abundance of different frogs for observation and discovery. Almost 4% of the world’s amphibian fauna is found on the island. Especially in the rainy areas on the east coast, you can find countless different species in a small area. In the rainy season, the croaking, chirping, and chirping of the courtship males can …
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