Common names:
Costa Rica Brook Frog [1].
Classification:
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Amphibia
Order - Anura
Family - Hylidae
Species - Duellmanohyla uranochroa
Distribution:
Duellmanohyla uranochroa is found on the cordilleras (mountains) of Costa Rica and Panama (Figure 2) [1, 2]. It is found at 300-1450m above sea level [1].
Details:
The Costa Rica Brook Frog resides in humid lowland and montane forest, usually in close proximity to streams [1, 2, 3]. During the day, the frogs shelter in the leaves of vegetation and at night they can be found on the banks of small, fast-flowing streams [1]. Males call from 0.5-3m up trees, further away from the stream [1]. Larvae develop in still pools and occasionally attach themselves to the bottom of rocks in times of high stream discharge [1]. This species is sexually dimorphic with the females usually being larger, up to 4cm [2]. Individuals of this species are a bright green with a yellow throat and belly, their eyes are bright red (Figure 1) [4].
The range of this species falls within 6 protected areas in Panama and Costa Rica, but no specific conservation measure are in place [1]. The population is currently found to be increasing [1]. More research is needed to ascertain how much of a threat the chytrid fungus poses [1].
Threats to the species:
Disease (chytrid fungus) [1].
Agricultural expansion (historically worse) [1].
Similar species:
References:
[1] IUCN Red List. (2013). Costa Rica Brook Frog, Duellmanohyla uranochroa. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/55314/3028798. [Accessed 5 May 2019].
[2] Bursey, C. R. and Goldberg, S. R. (2007) ‘A new species of Oxyascaris (Nematoda, Cosmocercidae) in the Costa Rica brook frog, Duellmanohyla uranochroa (Anura, Hylidae)’, Acta Parasitologica, 52(1), pp. 58–61.
[3] Garcia-Rodriguez, A. et al. (2012) ‘Where are the survivors? Tracking relictual populations of endangered frogs in Costa Rica’, Diversity and Distributions, 18(2), pp. 204–212.
[4] AmphibiaWeb. (2009). Duellmanohyla uranochroa. [ONLINE] Available at: https://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Duellmanohyla&where-species=uranochroa. [Accessed 5 May 2019].
Photo: Amphibian Survival Alliance. (n.d.). Returning from the Brink: Rebounding Amphibian Populations in a Pathogen Enzootic Environment. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.amphibians.org/seedgrants/2015shepak/ [Accessed 5 May 2019].
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