Ranita de la selva oscura

Fascinantes hechos

Cuando se encuentran amenazadas, las ranas de jungla fumosas intentan parecer más grandes inflando sus pulmones y manteniendo la postura erguida sobre todas las cuatro patas. Emiten una secreción viscosa y similar a la mucosidad de su piel, que es nociva para muchos animales y también emiten un grito agudo.

Características físicas

Adults can grow up to seven inches in length. They have brownish-colored backs with black markings and cream-colored underparts. Males have black spines on their chests and thumbs to more easily grasp females during mating.

Hábitat y dieta

This nocturnal amphibian will spend the daytime hours in burrows, leaf litter, or under logs in subtropical or tropical lowland forests, swamps, riverbanks or marshes in northern South America. Tadpoles are omnivorous, eating algae as well as eggs of their own species. Adults are opportunistic feeders, eating insects and other small reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and even birds.

Comportamiento social

Males will call from the water’s edge to attract females. Females lay up to 1,000 eggs in a foam nest, which is located in a shallow depression near a water source. Predators of smoky jungle frogs include snakes, caimans and coatimundis.

Rango

Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil and French Guiana

Situación en la naturaleza

Least Concern – IUCN 2008

Localización en el zoológico

Bosque tropical tropical y aviario de Sudamérica