Boulenger's climbing frog

Anodonthyla boulengerii

SUBFAMILY

Cophylinae

TAXONOMY

Anodonthyla boulengerii Müller, 1892, Madagascar.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

This is a small frog, with a body length of 0.85 in (22 mm). The head is narrower than the body, and the snout is bluntly pointed. Teeth, which are lacking in most microhylids, are present in the upper jaw. The fingers and toes (except the first in each instance) have enlarged terminal disks; those of the fingers are much the broader. There is no webbing. The first finger of the male bears a sharp, projecting spine that may serve to help grip the female during amplexus. The background color is brown with varying paler or darker brown markings.

DISTRIBUTION

The species ranges across eastern Madagascar.

HABITAT

This is an arboreal species, but sometimes it is found under the forest floor litter.

BEHAVIOR

Little is known aside from reproductive behavior.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Like so many other microhylids, this species feeds on ants.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Males are reported to call from the trunks of trees and ferns as well as other vegetation but rarely from leaves. This is one of many species of microhylids whose breeding habits diverge from those more typical of frogs. The 25–30 eggs are small (less than 0.1 in, or 2 mm) and are laid in water held in tree cavities or leaf axils. The male remains with the eggs as they develop and through the period of larval growth, which lasts less than a month. The tadpoles take no food; they survive and grow through metamorphosis on energy supplied by the yolk.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.