Try not to step on a mossy frog in disguise!
- Mossy frogs are medium-sized frogs that can reach lengths of 5 to 9 centimetres (2 to 3.5 inches) and are native to north Vietnam in Southeast Asia.
- ‘Mossy frogs’ are also known as ‘Tonkin bug-eyed frogs’ and ‘Vietnamese mossy frogs’.
- The scientific name of a mossy frog is Theloderma corticale, and it is from the family Rhacophoridae, the family of shrub frogs.
- The colour of mossy frogs ranges from a lush green to a murky brown, and the colour patterns, combined with its bumpy texture, have the appearance of moss, which the frog uses to camouflage itself.
- Mossy frogs live in habitats of forests and mountainous regions in tropical climates, especially those areas that are commonly wet or marshy.
Mossy Frog
Image courtesy of Jason Wesley Upton/Flickr
- The diet of mossy frogs consists of insects including crickets, moths, locusts and flies.
- When feeling threatened, a mossy frog retracts into the shape of a ball and acts as if it was dead.
- Due to their remote location, mossy frogs are not well researched, which prevents them from having a proper population estimate, although it is known the frog is threatened by habitat loss.
- Female mossy frogs generally produce between ten and thirty eggs that are laid slightly above, or just in water, that hatch two to three weeks later.
- Mossy frogs have become popular amphibians in the pet industry, due to their interesting look and their relatively easy care nature.
Bibliography:
Keeping and Breeding Mossy Frogs (Theloderma Corticale), 2015, Saurian Enterprises, https://saurian.net/froginfo_mossyfrogcare.html
Mossy Frog, n.d, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/amphibian-house/frogs-and-toads-1254385524/theloderma-corticale
Theloderma Corticale, n.d, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/summary/59033/0
Theloderma Corticale, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theloderma_corticale
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