Leptopelis
A forest Steiger Frog
The forest dart frog ( Leptopelis ) are a genus of African Anura. So far, they have been counted to the family of reed frogs ( Hyperoliidae ). For recent reviews, however, they represent the long finger frogs ( Arthroleptidae ). There Leptopelis is the only genus in the subfamily Leptopelinae with over 50 species.
Features
The most striking feature is the very large eyes with vertical pupils. The animals are about five to ten inches tall. The females are often much larger than the males. Some species have in their youth a different color than in the adult stage; the "Youth Dress " then green. Mostly they are brown in color with a darker pattern on the back, the underside is lightly colored. Something more colorful types include Leptopelis barbouri and L. ulugurensis. The eye color is of a dark brown - golden yellow to red (about L. parkeri ). The distinction of the individual species is difficult because many species are very similar and are often distinguished only by their geographical occurrence. Some species were also determined based on individual findings. The pupil is vertical and the eyes for nocturnal animals typically large, which has earned them among other things, the name " African big -eyed tree frog ". This makes them easy to distinguish from other taxa.
Way of life
It is typical for some of these frogs that they bury themselves in times of drought in the moist soil and are in the wetter seasons then active again. Their eggs are laid in moist soil or moss, from where then find the tadpoles after hatching their way to the water. Some mating calls are described as a short "click "; other types also call melodic.
Species
The genus includes 52 species:
Stood: March 1, 2014
- Leptopelis anchietae ( Bocage, 1873)
- Leptopelis Anebos Portillo & Greenbaum, 2014
- Leptopelis argenteus ( Pfeffer, 1893)
- Leptopelis aubryi ( Duméril, 1856)
- Leptopelis aubryioides ( Andersson, 1907) synonym to Leptopelis omissus Amiet, 1992
- Leptopelis barbouri Ahl, 1929
- Leptopelis bequaerti Loveridge, 1941
- Leptopelis bocagii ( Günther, 1865)
- Leptopelis boulengeri ( Werner, 1898)
- Leptopelis brevipes ( Boulenger, 1906)
- Leptopelis brevirostris ( Werner, 1898)
- Leptopelis bufonides Schiøtz, 1967
- Leptopelis calcaratus ( Boulenger, 1906)
- Leptopelis christyi ( Boulenger, 1912)
- Leptopelis concolor Ahl, 1929
- Leptopelis crystallinoron Lötters, Rödel & Burger, 2005
- Leptopelis cynnamomeus ( Bocage, 1893)
- Leptopelis fenestratus Laurent, 1972
- Leptopelis fiziensis Laurent, 1973
- Leptopelis flavomaculatus ( Günther, 1864)
- Leptopelis gramineus ( Boulenger, 1898)
- Leptopelis Jordanian Parker, 1936
- Leptopelis karissimbensis Ahl, 1929
- Leptopelis kivuensis Ahl, 1929
- Leptopelis lebeaui De Witte, 1933
- Leptopelis mackayi Köhler, Bwong, Schick, Veith & Lötters, 2006
- Leptopelis macrotis Schiøtz, 1967
- Leptopelis marginatus ( Bocage, 1895)
- Leptopelis millsoni ( Boulenger, 1895)
- Leptopelis modestus ( Werner, 1898)
- Leptopelis mossambicus Poynton, 1985
- Leptopelis natalensis (Smith, 1849)
- Leptopelis nordequatorialis Perret, 1966
- Leptopelis notatus (Peters, 1875)
- Leptopelis occidentalis Schiøtz, 1967
- Leptopelis ocellatus ( Mocquard, 1902)
- Leptopelis oryi Inger, 1968
- Leptopelis palmatus (Peters, 1868)
- Leptopelis parbocagii Poynton & Broadley, 1987
- Leptopelis parkeri Barbour & Loveridge, 1928 - Parker Steiger forest frog
- Leptopelis parvus Schmidt & Inger, 1959
- Leptopelis ragazzii ( Boulenger, 1896)
- Leptopelis rufus Reichenow, 1874
- Leptopelis spiritunoctis Rödel, 2007
- Leptopelis susanae Largen, 1977
- Leptopelis uluguruensis Barbour & Loveridge, 1928
- Leptopelis vannutellii ( Boulenger, 1898)
- Leptopelis vermiculatus ( Boulenger, 1909) - Green Forest Frog Steiger
- Leptopelis viridis ( Günther, 1869)
- Leptopelis xenodactylus Poynton, 1963
- Leptopelis yaldeni Largen, 1977
- Leptopelis zebra Amiet, 2001
Leptopelis vermiculatus, male
Leptopelis vermiculatus, juvenile
Leptopelis vermiculatus, female
Leptopelis parkeri