Peerless Cunning

Imagine for a moment a bright green frog with googly eyes that spends the day resting hidden in a leaf. If a predator approaches her, she will open her eyelids to reveal her huge red eyes. Likewise, it will extend its legs and sides in the hope of surprising the predator and escaping. Surely you are thinking of the green frog with green eyes. Very cunning these little frogs!

These extraordinary little frogs belong to the group of amphibians. They live near rivers, streams, and ponds in moist forests and lowlands. You find them in southern Mexico and areas of Central America to northern Colombia.

They are nocturnal, which means that, at night, they go out in search of their food. Because its diet consists of insects such as moths, flies and crickets, as well as tadpoles and other smaller frogs; they are carnivorous.

When the rain begins, the females come to the puddles in search of a mate. After this they lay around 40 eggs on the wet leaves. The eggs hatch after a week, the young known as “tadpoles” fall into the water. However, both the eggs and the tadpoles face many challenges as they are the preferred food of many predators such as fish, water beetles and dragonflies.

Fun facts

• They are arboreal animals, that is, they live in trees. Thanks to their legs equipped with suction cups, they can climb very high and reach the highest branches.
• The females are bigger than the males. A female will grow up to 3 inches in length, while males typically grow to between 2 and 2.5 inches.
• The eggs of these frogs can hatch or hatch prematurely if they sense the presence of a predator, a phenomenon called “phenotypic plasticity.”
• Upon reaching adulthood, their predators include owls, toucans, and snakes and bats.
• They can live up to 5 years in their natural habitat.