The Smokey Jungle Frog or Smoky Jungle Frog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus) is a species frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 in the Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae

Leptodactylidae is a diverse family of frogs that probably diverged from other hyloids during the Cenozoic era, or possibly at the end of the Mesozoic. There are roughly 50 genera, one of which is Eleutherodactylus, the largest vertebrate genus, with over 700 species...

 family. Its local Spanish name is sapo-toro comun (roughly, "common bullfrog").
It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.
Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s, subtropical or tropical swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

s, subtropical or tropical moist montane

Montane

In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...

s, river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s, freshwater marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es, intermittent freshwater marches, and aquaculture pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

s.

Physical characteristics

Males of this large, robust frog are slightly larger than females; they attain a maximum snout-vent length of 18.0 cm (7.3 in), whereas the maximum length in females is 17.6 cm (6.9 in). The body is robust; the head is large with an acutely rounded snout and prominent tympanum. The skin on the dorsum and venter is smooth, and a prominent dorsolateral dermal fold extends from the orbit to the groin. The fingers and toes are long with slender tips and lack webbing. Breeding males have greatly swollen forelimbs and one large, pointed, black spine on the inner surface of the thumb and two black spines on each side of the chest. The dorsum is tan to reddish brown with broad, reddish brown marks on the body between the yellowish tan dorsolateral folds. The dorsal surfaces of the limbs are tan to reddish brown with narrow transverse brown bars. The upper lip is tan with a brown margin and dark brown triangular spots. The venter is cream with bold dark brown to black mottling, especially on the belly and hind limbs. The iris is bronze.

Distribution

This frog ranges in lowlands (below 3800 ft or 1200 m) from southern Colombia to the Pacific lowlands of Ecuador and throughout the Guianas and northern two-thirds of the Amazon Basin in South America.

Habitat

Principally a denizen of tropical rainforest, this species also invades dry forest and lower montane forests.

Behavior

This nocturnal species spends its days in burrows, under logs, or hidden in leaf litter

Plant litter

Plant litter, leaf litter or tree litter is dead plant material, such as leaves, bark, needles, and twigs, that has fallen to the ground. Litter provides habitat for small animals, fungi, and plants, and the material may be used to construct nests. As litter decomposes, nutrients are released to...

. Defensive mechanisms include noxious skin secretions and posturing by inflating the lungs and elevating the body on all four limbs. When grasped, these frogs usually emit a high-pitched scream.

Feeding ecology and diet

Juveniles feed on small arthropods, but large adults feed on large arthropods, frogs, lizards, snakes, and small birds and mammals. Tadpoles are omnivorous, feeding on vegetation, tadpoles, and eggs, even of their own species.

Reproductive biology

Males call solitarily from margins of ponds and backwaters of streams; the call is a loud "whoorup" repeated at intervals of five to 10 seconds. An attracted female is grasped by the male by axillary amplexus and held firmly by the muscular forearms and nuptial spines on the thumbs and chest. About 1,000 eggs are deposited in a large foam nest by backward and forward motions of the male's hind limbs that mix air, water, eggs, and secretions into the nest, which usually is deposited in a depression adjacent to water. The eggs hatch in two to three days; subsequent rains flood the nest site, and the tadpoles move into the pond or slow-moving stream. Development is rapid, and metamorphosis occurs about four weeks after hatching. Tadpoles attain a maximum total length of about 3.3 in (83 mm). The body is ovoid with a rounded snout with large eyes directed dorsolaterally. The oral disc is nearly terminal and bears finely serrate jaw sheaths and two anterior and three posterior rows of labial teeth. The body and caudal musculature are brown.

Significance to humans

Some indigenous people eat these frogs, after they have been washed thoroughly

External links

• Leptodactylus pentadactylus, WildHerps.com