Hyloxalus vertebralis

species of amphibian

Boulenger's rocket frog (Hyloxalus vertebralis) is a frog. It lives in Ecuador. Scientists think it could live in Peru too.[2][3][1]

Hyloxalus vertebralis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Dendrobatidae
Genus: Hyloxalus
Species:
H. vertebralis
Binomial name
Hyloxalus vertebralis
(Boulenger, 1898)
Synonyms[2]
  • Phyllobates vertebralis Boulenger, 1899
  • Prostherapis vertebralis Peracca, 1904
  • Phyllobates vertebralis Barbour and Noble, 1920
  • Colostethus vertebralis Edwards, 1971
  • Hyloxalus vertebralis Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler, 2006

The adult male frog is 14.1–17.5 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 17–20.2 long. This frog has dark marks on its belly. The male frogs have darker marks than the female frogs. The male frog's male organs are white in color.[3]

This frog lives in cloud forests in valleys high in the Andes mountains. It also lives in places where animals eat grass, in parks, and in people's gardens. People see this frog near puddles and streams. The frogs sit on plants .3 to 3 meters above the ground. People have seen this frog between 1770 to 3500 meters above sea level.[1][2][3]

Many of the places this frog lives are protected parks, for example Parque Nacional Cajas, Parque Nacional Río Negro Sopladora, Páramo, Matorral Interandino, Bosque Montano Oriental, and Bosque Montano Occidental.[1][3]

The female frog lays eggs on the ground. The male frog carries the tadpoles on his back. He carries them to streams where they swim and grow.[1][3]

Danger

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Scientists say this frog is in some danger of dying out because people change its habitat to make towns. During the 1990s, many of these frogs died. Scientists think it could be the fungal disease chytridiomycosis, but they are not sure.[1]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2023). "Chimbo Rocket Frog: Hyloxalus vertebralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T55165A98646577. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T55165A98646577.en. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Frost, Darrel R. "Hyloxalus vertebralis (Boulenger, 1898)". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Luis A. Coloma; Caty Frenkel; Diego A. Ortiz (February 4, 2015). Luis A. Coloma; Santiago R. Ron (eds.). "Hyloxalus vertebralis (Boulenger, 1898)". AmphibiaWeb (in Spanish). University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 6, 2024.