Manaus slender-legged treefrog

Osteocephalus taurinus

SUBFAMILY

Hylinae

TAXONOMY

Osteocephalus taurinus Steindachner, 1862, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Bony-headed treefrog; French: Ostéocéphale taurin.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Males are 2.7–3.5 in (66–85 mm) long; females are 3.1–4.2 in (76–104 mm) long. Long-legged, with toes about three-fourths webbed. The dorsal skin in females is smooth and bears spiny tubercles in males. In large individuals, the skin on top of the head is co-ossified with underlying bones, which form a pair of longitudinal ridges on the top of the head. The dorsum is tan to reddish brown, with brown irregular markings on the back and bars on the limbs; the venter is cream with brown spots or mottling on the chest. The iris is bronze with radiating black lines. Males have paired lateral vocal sacs.

DISTRIBUTION

The Amazon Basin and Guianan region of South America.

HABITAT

Humid lowland rainforest.

BEHAVIOR

Nocturnal and arboreal.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Eats a variety of arthropods, especially orthopterans.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

After the initial heavy rains of the season, males congregate at ponds and mostly call while floating on the surface of the water; the call is a loud "boop-boop-boop," followed or not by a "worrr." Females deposit 500–600 small pigmented eggs as a surface film on the water. The eggs hatch in about 24 hours; the free-swimming tadpoles require about 86 days to reach metamorphosis.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Some indigenous people eat this species.