Red-Eyed Tree Frogs

1. By Katelynn Mansberger Red-Eyed Tree Frogs

2. The Low-Down On Amphibians A Red-Eyed Tree Fog is an amphibian. An amphibian is a vertebrate that can live on land and water. The term ‘amphibian’ is from two Latin words, ‘amphi’ meaning ‘both’, and ‘bios’ meaning ‘life’. This refers to the fact that amphibians live a double life, existing both as air breathers and water breathers.

3. Agalychnis Callidryas: The Red-Eyed Tree Frog Kingdom: Animilia Class: Amphibia Order: Anura Suborder: Neobachia Family: Hylidae Genus: Agalychnis

4. Home, Sweet Home You can find Red-Eyed Tree Frogs in Southern Mexico, Eastern Australia, Central America, and northern parts of South America. They like to make their homes near water sources in tropical lowland rainforests.

5. Grabbing Some Grub: A Red-Eyed Tree Frog’s Diet The Red- Eyed Tree Fog is a carnivore, which means it’s a meat eater. This tree frog chooses to dine on crickets, flies, and moths; but sometimes, they feed on smaller frogs!

6. Predators of the Red-Eyed Tree Frog Everyone has their friends, but they also have their enemies. Except in our case, our enemies probably won’t eat us. As a tadpole, the Red-Eyed Tree Frog’s enemies were dragonflies, fish, and water beetles. As a full-grown adult, they still have enemies; like snakes, spiders, and bats, toucans, baby alligators, and owls.

7. A Rainbow of A Frog! As you can see, the Red-Eyed Tree Frog is very colorful. Usually, bright coloring shows that an animal is poisonous, but the Red-Eyed Tree Frog surprisingly isn’t. The Red-Eyed Tree Frog has a green body, with blue and white stripes on his flanks. The inside of it’s legs are red and yellow: and it’s feet are orange. Young are usually brown, and as they age they grow more colorful.

8. Getting A Grip On TheRed-Eyed Tree Frog’s Fascinating Feet The Red-Eyed Tree Frog has well developed pads on it’s feet that aid climbing. The pads are like little suction disks that help grip slippery trees, branches, and other surfaces.

9. The Body Of A Red-Eyed Tree Frog The Red-Eyed Tree Frog breathes from lungs, just like us, which develop as the grow from a tadpole to a frog. Their ears are located behind their eyes and are circular. But the Red-Eyed Tree Frog is named after its amazing red eyes. Scientists believe the frog got its scarlet red peepers to shock predators into at least briefly questioning its meal choice.

10. Reproduction In breeding season, males congregate on branches overhanging a pond. The make a series of clicks to lure in the females. The male clambers onto the females back to mate, and she descends into the pond, carrying the male with her. She brings water back up the branch and lays about fifty eggs. This process is usually repeated several times.

11. The Next Generation After about five days, the eggs hatch and the newly-born tadpoles fall into the water below. They at first breathe with gills, but as they age, they develop lungs, hind legs, front legs, and other characteristics of a Red-Eyed Tree Frog. It will have an average lifespan of about five years.

12. Fun Facts! • The Red-Eyed Tree Frog has three eyelids. • It is sometimes called the Red-Eyed Leaf Frog. • By day, it rests on leaves, with it’s legs folded at it’s sides to hide the colorful parts of its body, providing camouflage. • They might slightly alter color depending on environment and food. • The females are a whole inch larger than the males, (The males are about two inches while the females are three!) • They are nocturnal so they prowl around at night looking for bugs.

13. Bibliography • http://allaboutfrogs.org/info/species/redeye.html • http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/amphibians/red-eyedtreefrog/ • Wikipedia • Osborne, Will and Osborne, Mary Pope- Rain Forests • http://switchzoo.com/profiles/red-eyedtreefrog.html