The grainy Cochran frog is hidden in a forest of secrets.
- Grainy Cochran frogs are a species of frog native to the southern countries of Central America.
- The scientific name of a grainy Cochran frog is Cochranella granulosa and it is from the family Centrolenidae, the family of glass frogs.
- The Spanish name for the grainy Cochran frog is ‘ranita de cristal’ which literally means ‘glass frog’, while the frog is also known as a ‘granular glass frog’.
- Grainy Cochran frogs are found around streams among plants, in moist forests that are situated in low-lying habitats.
- Grainy Cochran frogs are small and generally reach a length of 2.25 to 3.2 centimetres (0.9 to 1.3 inches).
Grainy Chochran Frog
Image courtesy of Brain Gratwicke/Flickr
- The skin of grainy Cochran frogs is a green-blue colour speckled with tiny white dots that give it a grainy texture.
- Around 50 to 60 eggs are laid by female grainy Cochran frogs, on vegetation that branches over and touches water bodies, so that on hatching, the new tadpoles can drop into the water.
- On the underside of a grainy Cochran frog, the skin is translucent, allowing its internal organs to be viewed.
- A grainy Cochran frog male fends off other amphibious intruders to its territory, often by wrestling on a leaf, where the loser is the individual that falls off, and the winner claims the territory.
- While grainy Cochran frogs are classified as ‘least concern’, they are still threatened by pollution of water and loss of habitat.
Bibliography:
Cochranella granulosa, n.d, IUCN Red List, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/54964/0
Cochranella granulosa, 2014, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochranella_granulosa
The Granular Glass Frog, 2015, Alien Earthlings, http://www.thenighttour.com/alien1/cochranella_granulosa.htm
Iyer S, Cochranella granulosa, 2009, AmphibiaWeb, http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Cochranella&where-species=granulosa
