Hyloxalus maculosus

species of amphibian

The spotted rocket frog (Hyloxalus maculosus) is a frog. It lives in Ecuador.[2][3][1]

Hyloxalus maculosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Dendrobatidae
Genus: Hyloxalus
Species:
H. maculosus
Binomial name
Hyloxalus maculosus
(Rivero, 1991)
Synonyms[2]
  • Colostethus maculosus Rivero, 1991
  • Hyloxalus maculosus Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006

The adult male frog is 19.5–24.9 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 22.4–29.0 mm long. The skin of the frog's back has three big spots and more small spots. Adult male frogs have gray or brown color on their necks and chests and bellies. Adult female frogs have brown or cream-white color on their necks and chests and white and clear color on their bellies.[3]

Scientists named this frog maculosus for "spotted" or "with a pattern on it." They named it for the color of its back.[3]

Scientists have seen this frog in forests where the weather is hot and wet. These forests can be high up in the mountains. People have seen this frog between 342 and 1225 meters above sea level. These frogs are awake during the day. People see them in small streams that have rocks on the bottom [instead of sand or mud].[1] Scientists saw this frog near two protected parks, Parque Nacional Llanganates and Parque Nacional Sangay, but they do not know if the frog lives in the parks.[1]

The male frog sits under a rock or in a crack in a rock and calls to the female frogs. The female frog lays her eggs in dead leaves on the ground. The male frog watches the eggs until they hatch. Then he carries the tadpoles to streams where they swim and grow.[1] The tadpoles are partially clear with brown spots and a brown stripe on the back. There are two light spots on the mouth.[3]

Danger

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Scientists say this frog is in big danger of dying out because people cut down forests to get wood to build with and to make farms and places for cows to eat grass. Bad chemicals in the water can kill this frog too.[1]

First paper

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  • Santos; Coloma; Canatella (2003). Proc.Nat.Acad.Sci. USA. 100: 12794.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2023). "Spotted rocket frog: Hyloxalus maculosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T135881A98657540. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T135881A98657540.en. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Frost, Darrel R. "Hyloxalus maculosus (Rivero, 1991)". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Diego A. Ortiz; Andrea Vallejo; Luis A. Coloma (April 30, 2013). "Hyloxalus maculosus (Rivero, 1991)". AmphibiaWeb (in Spanish). University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 20, 2024.