Lemur leaf frog, Lemur frog
Agalychnis lemur, the lemur leaf frog or lemur frog, is a species of frog in the family Phyllomedusidae, also treated as the subfamily Phyllomedusinae in the Hylidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, and adjacent northwestern Colombia. It is classed as Critically Endangered and threatened by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Jumping (saltation) can be distinguished from running, galloping, and other gaits where the entire body is temporarily airborne by the relatively l...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe lemur leaf frog lives in tropical mid-elevation pre-montane rainforest between 440 and 1600 metres ASL. Costa Rica is currently host to three sites in which this species resides. They are Fila Asuncion (an abandoned farm 15 km southwest of Limón); a forested area near Parque National Barbilla; and Guayacán in Limón Province. Of these three locations Fila Asuncion is the only one known to have a large breeding population.
Details of the specific diet of lemur leaf frogs have not been reported but is primarily a wide variety of insects.
The lemur leaf frog participates in "prolonged breeding" that takes place continuously during the rainy seasons, primarily observed during spring or summer. These species engage in ritual calling. The male lemur frog intones a series of clicks to call to the female.
Although the lemur leaf frog was once considered a common species in Costa Rica it has declined. With more than an 80% decrease in population in a period of 10 years it is now closely being monitored in Panama where it is still abundant in the lower elevations of central and eastern parts of the country. However, there have been no further reports on the populations of these lemur frogs endemic to Columbia. Due to their marked drop in population these species of lemurs has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2004. Related causes that may be linked to the disappearance of these frogs are chytridiomycosis (a disease affecting only amphibians contacting with zoospores of the Chytrid fungus) and general loss of habitat from deforestation.
In Costa Rica, lemur leaf frogs are currently only found in two remaining locations. Genetic testing of the mitochondrial DNA of the lemur leaf frog populations show that those frogs are distinct from the Panamanian frogs. This highlighted the need for the separate conservation of the Costa Rican populations. The first in situ conservation effort for the lemur leaf frog was started in 2003. The in-situ aspect of the project was carried out by the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center, consisting of introducing tadpoles to artificial ponds every year, gradually increasing the wild population of the frogs inside of the reserve. The project has been so successful that the frogs are spreading out from the center.
It was first successfully breeding ex-situ for the Costa Rican frogs was at Manchester Museum's Vivarium, where an official conservation project for the Costa Rican population (Project Lemur Frog) was established in 1999. Work at Manchester Museum with the species has involved supporting them in Costa Rica, highlighting the species' plight to the public, DNA research work to genetically fingerprint the species which allowed for the creation of an official studbook for this species. Manchester University has also developed a global environmental education programme based on the species that extends to the countries of origin. The Atlanta Botanical Garden and El Valle, Panama have also bred the Panamanian form of the species in captivity and been highly successful.
