Theloderma palliatum

species of amphibian

The cloaked moss frog or cloaked bug-eyed frog (Theloderma palliatum) is a frog. It lives in Vietnam.[2][3][1][4]

Theloderma palliatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Rhacophoridae
Genus: Theloderma
Species:
T. palliatum
Binomial name
Theloderma palliatum
Rowley, Le, Hoang, Dau, and Cao, 2011
Synonyms[2]
  • Theloderma palliatum Rowley, Le, Hoang, Dau, and Cao, 2011
  • Theloderma chuyangsinense Orlov, Poyarkov, Vassilieva, Ananjeva, Nguyen, Sang, and Geissler, 2012
  • Theloderma (Theloderma) palliatum Poyarkov, Orlov, Moiseeva, Pawangkhanant, Ruangsuwan, Vassilieva, Galoyan, Nguyen, and Gogoleva, 2015
  • Theloderma palliatum chuyangsinense Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021
  • Theloderma palliatum palliatum Poyarkov, Nguyen, Popov, Geissler, Pawangkhanant, Neang, Suwannapoom, and Orlov, 2021

The adult male frog is about 26 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog about 29 mm long. The skin of the frog's back is brown like copper in color with other brown markings. There are small white marks on the back feet. The iris of the eye is gold in color on top and reddish-brown in color lower down. The color of the iris is the same as the color of the skin next to it.[4]

Scientists named this frog palliatus because that is the Latin word for "cloaked" or "in disguise." They did this because the frog can change the skin of its back to hide itself.[4]

This frog lives in trees on mountains with evergreen trees in them. People have seen this frog 1625 meters above sea level in Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park. Scientists think it might live in other places nearby.[1]

This frog lays eggs inside holes in dead trees that have water in them.[1]

Danger

change

Scientists say this frog is in danger of dying out because it lives in a small place and because people change that place to grow fish, make farms, get things from the forest, and make other things people need and use.[1]

Scientists think people might also catch this frog to sell as a pet because that happens to other frogs in Theloderma, but this frog is very hard for people to see, so frog catchers might not be able to find many.[1]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2017). "Cloaked Moss Frog: Theloderma palliatum". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 3.1. p. e.T48100463A48100482. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T48100463A48100482.en. 48100463. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Frost, Darrel R. "Theloderma palliatum Rowley, Le, Hoang, Dau, and Cao, 2011". Amphibian Species of the World, an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History, New York. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  3. "Theloderma palliatum Rowley, Le, Hoang, Dau, and Cao, 2011". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Rowley JJL; Le DTTL; Hoang HD; Dau VQ; Cao TT (2011). "Two new species of Theloderma (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Vietnam" (PDF). Zootaxa (Full text). 3098: 1–20. Retrieved May 31, 2023.