Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

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Matt Cage
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Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Matt Cage »

Thanks to everybody for the comments on the first couple of posts, which are here:

Part 1:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=12448

Part 2:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=12773

Everytime I go to the Amazon, I am absolutely amazed by the diversity of the amphibians. Some species are everywhere and some species you just don't find very often. They can be very tough to identify. In January 2012, the river was very high and we had rain. Obviously this was good conditions for amphibians. Usually the salamanders, Bolitoglossa altmazonica are fairly abundant. If I look for them, I usually find a couple a night on the trails. This year, I searched hard and we did not find any. Here is one from a previous trip.
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Bolitoglossa altmazonica
Amazon climbing salamander







On most trips, a caecilian or two show up. Personally, I have had good luck finding them out in the middle of the night in heavy rainstorms. They are amazingly tough to catch in muddy puddles and I have had them disappear on me. Kevin found this one on a rainy night in Madre Selva. It was approx. 12 inches long. On this trip, it was the only caecilian found.
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Typhlonectes compressicauda
Common Aquatic Caecilian








These show up from time to time at both preserves. They are small and quite variable and pretty.
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Adenomera andrea
Chirping Frog







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Chiasmocleis bassleri
Bassler's Sheep Frog








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Hamptophryne boliviana
Amazon Sheep Frog








These clown treefrogs have really become some of my favorite species to find in the Amazon. They are SO variable that each little population you find has different colors and patterns. I am probably going to put up too many photos of these.
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Hyla (Dendropsophus) leucophyllata
Clown Treefrog









And the closely related and hard to tell apart triangulaum
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Hyla (Dendropsophus) triangulum
Variable Clown Treefrog









The Hyla boans are large and usually heard calling from the canopy. I have always found a few who venture too low. They are very large!
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Hyla (Hypsiboas) Boans
Gladiator Treefrog








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Hyla (Hypsiboas) lanciformis
Rocket Treefrog









A beautiful and fairly common species
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Hyla (Hypsiboas) punctatus
Polkadot Treefrog







A beautiful and tiny species that occasionally shows up in the foliage on a night hike.
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Hyla (Hyspiboas) nympha






Another very tiny species:
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Hyla miyatai
Jeweled Treefrog








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Hyla calcarata
Convict Treefrog








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Hyla cinerascens (Hyla granosa)
Rough Skinned Green Treefrog








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Hyla fasciata
Spotted Thighed Treefrog








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Hyla haroldschulzi
Many Striped Treefrog








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Hyla parviceps
Orange Shanked Treefrog









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Nyctimantis rugiceps
Chocolate Treefrog








The Osteocephalus genus are sometimes tough for me to distinguish. Some are absolutely incredible.
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Osteocephalus cabrerai
Forest Bromeliad Treefrog









One of the more common frogs seen on the trip:
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Osteocephalus planiceps
Bromeliad Treefrog





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Osteocephalus yasuni



Scinax are another interesting genus. Scinax garbei has worked its way up to being one of my favorite frogs. Their colors and head shape is wild.
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Scinax garbei
Fringe Lipped Treefrog







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Scinax funerea








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Scinax rubra
Two Striped Treefrog






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Scarthyla ostinodactyla
Slender Treefrog








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Eleutherodactylus acuminatus
Common Rain Frog







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Eleutherodactylus ockendeni
Carabaya Rain Frog








One of the most incredible herpetological related experiences I have ever seen occurred one night at Santa Cruz. On a typical trip to the Amazon, I feel lucky to find a Phyllomedusa bicolor or two. I absolutely love Monkey Frogs. They are beautiful and photograph well. On this trip, we were lucky enough to find a very large specimen near Iquitos the first night. Then in Madre Selva, we found 2 and I was loving it (though one was being eaten by a snake). In Santa Cruz, we found a breeding pond LOADED with them. There were large ones in the water, on the ground going to the water, in the trees over the water! They were calling all around. It was incredible. There were lots of other species seen also, but the bicolor were everywhere. Then, when you looked on the ground at the shore, metamorphs were emerging from the water and heading to the forest! I stayed there for hours enjoying.
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Phyllomedusa bicolor
Giant Monkey Frog






Also, around the same pool were some Phyllomedusa vaillanti. Thought not as large, they are beautiful.
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Phyllomedusa vaillanti
White Lined Monkey Frog






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Hydrolaetare schmidtii
Moaning River Frog






A fairly common and very distinctive frog.
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Ischnocnema quixensis
Common Big Headed Rain Frog





The Leptodactylus are always a treat!
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Leptodactylus knudseni
Rose Sided Jungle Frog





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Leptodactylus wagneri
Dwarf Jungle Frog






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Leptodactylus pentadactylus
Smokey Jungle Frog





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Leptodactylus stenodema
Black-thighed Jungle Frog



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Lithodytes lineatus
Painted Antnest Frog
















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Phrynohyas venulosa
Common Milk Frog















These are always incredible to find. They are occasionally found at Madre Selva. We found a few on this trip:
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Atelopus spumarius
Amazon Harlequin Toad






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Physalaemus petersi
Painted Forest Toad


In my previous trips to the Amazon, I have never come across a Pipa pipa. Others in my groups have, but I have never seen one in situ before. Well on one night hike from Madre Selva, right outside of camp, at the first stream, we looked down and saw one! What a sight! These are some incredible animals. After observing it for many minutes, we tried unsuccessfully to catch it. Oh well. The next day, one was brought into camp by the local kids! So, we all got to photograph one.
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Pipa pipa
Suriname Toad







These toads are quite common and variable.
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Bufo dapsilis
Sharp Nosed Toad





These are one of the most incredible toad species. They are variable and some are spectacular.
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Bufo margaritifera
Forest Crested Toad







And always good seeing these monsters where they are supposed to be!
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Bufo marinus
Cane Toad







Poison Dart Frogs are a treat to find. The species in the Peruvain Amazon and quite small and fast.
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Dendrobates ventrimaculata
Amazonian Poison Frog







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Epipedobates femoralis
Spotted Thighed Poison Frog











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Epipedobates hahneli
Striped Poison Frog






Hatchet Faced Treefrogs are quite abundant in the right habitat. They are also quite pretty!
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Sphaenorhynchus dorisae
Spotted Hatchet Faced Treefrog







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Sphaenorhynchus lacteus
Greater Hatchet Faced Treefrog













The trip was a memorable one. I’m excited to go back in January 2013! Again, check http://www.amazon-ecotours.com for information, or ask!




Thanks!
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justinm
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by justinm »

Epic, Thanks for putting all this together. I can't say enough about how awesome this post is.
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Rags
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Rags »

Astonishing diversity. Your photos are top notch.

Bufo margaritifera - Gasp.
Hyla leucophyllata - Wow.
Hyla calcarata - Boom! (Head exploding).

Thanks for posting this.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

Amazing diversity, fantastic colours, weird shapes, ... Super!!!
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jordo
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by jordo »

Awesome!!! Can't wait to get to the Amazon.
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Martti Niskanen
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Martti Niskanen »

Wow! Mighty impressive.
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CCarille
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by CCarille »

Quite an impressive post Matt!
Fantastic diversity in your finds. With the other posts from the Amazon you've put together you've got one nice collection!
kurakura
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by kurakura »

very cool animals, keep em comming:P
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RenoBart
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by RenoBart »

The frog diversity down there is just mind boggling. Nice pics, love the Pipa pipa.

Bart
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SnakePaparazzi
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Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by SnakePaparazzi »

Beautiful! Just an FYI, those ventrimiculata have recently been reclassified to R. Amazonica. I'd link the documentation if I could find it...

-Christian
joeysgreen
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by joeysgreen »

Just read all three parts...

Bows; "We're not worthy, We're not worthy..."

In all of the excruciatingly spectacular animals I"d say the Pipa pipa are my favorite. I have a soft, ahem, flat spot for them and have kept them in captivity for almost 15 years.

Ian
dickbartlett
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by dickbartlett »

Absolutely beautiful, Matt.
There have been so many nomenclatural changes that we're going
to have to sit down and reteach each other.
Dick
www.amazon-ecotours.com
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Daniel D Dye
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Daniel D Dye »

Holy-moly, Matt! Awesome stuff! Anura overload! :thumb:

DDD
herper1
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by herper1 »

Truly incredible, Thank you so much for posting !
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moloch
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by moloch »

Wow, Matt, that was incredible. You certainly found an amazing variety of amphibians with many species that we did not see on our drier trip a couple of years ago.

Regards,
David
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Wonderful! I hope it rains like hell come January :thumb:

Your bicolor experience must have been incredible! I see you got Nyctimantis as well, that's a great looking frog!

Mike
dickbartlett
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by dickbartlett »

Mike--there's a newly made little reservoir on Santa Cruz (near the kitchen, down at the creek) that is now Phyllomedusa heaven.

Don't hope for TOOOOOOOOOO much rain. You won't recognize the place when you return in Jan. At Madre Selva water was almost waist deep up the hill near the classroom last year. Many big trees swept away. Others already planted though--but not so big<LOL>
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JakeScott
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by JakeScott »

Some, many, or a few of these would be a highlight of this trip for me. All are fantastic! Great work!

-Jake
Matt Cage
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Re: Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Amphibians

Post by Matt Cage »

Thanks to everybody for the replies! As you can all see, I'm pretty slow to change the taxonomy. I am especially slow with some of the genus changes that I have been confortable with for my whole life.



CC, Martti, Jordo, Jeroen, Rags,Justin, thanks for the comments!!

Kurakura, going to have to wait until next January now.

Bart, thanks, and yeah, I love the Pipa!

Christian, yeah, I've heard this. I'm pretty sure that all Dendrobates have been shuffled around, including the genus name. See above. No matter what we call them, they are spectacular!

Ian, the Pipa was special to me as I have always wanted to see one in the wild and have missed out. I just took the sight in!

Daniel, it's going to happen in January!

David, thanks for the comment!

Mike, January is going to be a GREAT time! Rain is good.4

Dick, I love that place!

Jake, hope to see you down there in January!
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