"Careful look"
Close up of specialized eye lid which allows frog to
see without giving out its camouflage cover, La Selva, Costa Rica.
Not only is the Red-eyed tree frog an icon for
biodiversity and beauty of tropical rainforests Ð it has also an interesting
breeding behavior recently revealed. Home to the canopies of lowland
rainforests between Mexico and Panama, this attractive species only comes
down to the forest floor for mating. In rainy nights, males gather around
ponds and pools in the rainforest and call to attract females. A female then
glues egg clutches under leaves that overhang the pond and the embryos
develop to tadpoles outside the water. This method is to avoid predators in
the water such as dragonfly larvae or fish who often eat the immobile eggs of
other frogs. However, there is danger also outside the water, especially in
form of snakes and certain species of wasps who like to dine on eggs of the
red-eyed tree frog. Scientists recently discovered a complex and fascinating
anti predator response of the young embryos: if attacked by a predator, they
can hatch within seconds and escape the danger. This response is even
specific to the species of predator: a snake provokes the whole clutch to
go, a wasp only the immediate neighbors. The specificy of this behavior has
been shown in vibration playback experiments. Images of this photo essay
portrait all aspects of natural history of the adult frogs such as feeding,
mating, their predators and habitat as well as an elaborate documentation of
the embryos behavior and the research on it.
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