# Identify these Costa Rican amphibians



## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

Hello everyone,

I took these pictures this summer (late June) in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. I've looked through The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica by Jay Savage a few times and cannot identify them to save my life. I do not have access to the Amphibians and Reptiles of La Selva, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean Slope by Gruyer and Donnelly. 

The second picture is out of focus, sorry. 

Any help in solving the mystery would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Frog 1:









Frog/Toad? 2:


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

I'll take a stab, since I was JUST there....at Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui a couple weeks ago.....


#1: Common Dink frog - Caretta robber "Martillito or little hammer"
_Eleutherodactylus diastema_

#2: Litter Toad - _Bufo haematiticus_


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## i_am_bedford_falls (Nov 23, 2006)

I agree with Phil on #1


I find it really hard to identify the second, but I don't think it is a litter toad. The dark band that is generally under the mouth and eye extending laterally down the body is not there. It has the body shape of a toad, but it is too blurry for me to guess.


I was in Costa Rica last year (not Puerto Viejo though), and consulted the Savage guide often.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

I know this is less than helpful, but I just want to point out what an awesome screen name "Litter Toad" would have been.

Doh!


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

The bulgey eyes on the Dink Frog threw me off. Plus, it was the middle of the day when I took this picture, and Dink Frogs are supposed to be fairly nocturnal. Cool, one mystery solved!

The second picture had pretty bumpy skin, but I could not tell if it had parotid glands. It was about the size of a quarter.


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

Philsuma said:


> I'll take a stab, since I was JUST there....at Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui a couple weeks ago.....



Phil, where did you stay? Did you tour La Selva?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

wcsbackwards said:


> Phil, where did you stay? Did you tour La Selva?


I stayed with the students at the biological station....mostly.

the second pic is really hard to guess......I would like to say _bufo_ at least, but not completely...


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

I found another picture of the same animal!!!!










I knew I had this somewhere.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Did you happen across this big boy?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

wcsbackwards said:


> I found another picture of the same animal!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hmmmm...it's skin _is kind of _pustular.....legs banded...no glands behind eyes...

How about: Mudpuddle frog or foam toad ?
_Physalaemus pustulosus_


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## i_am_bedford_falls (Nov 23, 2006)

Based on that photo, #2 is Bufo melanochlorus (wet forest toad - I think) in my opinion. It appears to be a juvenile based on the size you described as well as the pattern. A great picture of a juvenile is plate 81 in the Savage guide. The parotoid gland appears to be small and triangular shaped, which is a good way to split out some of the Bufo species.

Phil - Is that L. pentadactylus? One night a fellow student brought back a field bag with one of those in it. I opened the bag slowly and poked my head in thinking that I was in no danger from a big frog. My eyes began to burn and I was coughing for a solid hour because of the noxious sking secretions that we floating around that bag. It was terrible. I fear those big and especially slimy monsters.


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

Philsuma said:


> Did you happen across this big boy?


Is that a Smokey Jungle Frog _Leptodactylus pentadactylus_? I did not see one of those. The biggest amphibian I saw (beside the marine toads) was a Vaillant's Frog (_Rana vaillanti_) in a marsh-pond at La Selva.

Is there any chance the Dink Frog is actually a Meadow Treefrog (_Hyla pseudopuma_ = _Isthmohyla infucata_)?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Yep..._pentadactylus_.

That particular frog came out of it's hole at night mostly and I had to play a waiting game to get a decent shot.

They are slimey no?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

I don't think that Hyla pseudopuma is common in that area. The dink frog was....I saw some.

Your frog pic has eyes that, I would say, are unlike that Hyla.

Hard to say though....there is tremendous color variation and then through in some juveniles ect......muy dificil.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

i_am_bedford_falls said:


> Phil - Is that L. pentadactylus? One night a fellow student brought back a field bag with one of those in it. I opened the bag slowly and poked my head in thinking that I was in no danger from a big frog. My eyes began to burn and I was coughing for a solid hour because of the noxious sking secretions that we floating around that bag. It was terrible. I fear those big and especially slimy monsters.


Your lucky you didn't handle it as you might have been one of the unlucky ones who get skin rashes from those frogs.. 

Ed


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

OK
Thanks for all the help guys!


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## i_am_bedford_falls (Nov 23, 2006)

Ed said:


> Your lucky you didn't handle it as you might have been one of the unlucky ones who get skin rashes from those frogs..
> 
> Ed


I actually had handled one the night before. I took the chance and it didn't do anything to my skin. I knew that they could cause irritation, but had no idea the secretions could be so overwhelming.


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## Malaki33 (Dec 21, 2007)

How do you guys get to take such cool trips????? I was in the Military for 16 years and have been a GS employee for 6 and never have I had such an oppurtunity!


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

This was a college graduation gift for me.


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Malaki33 said:


> How do you guys get to take such cool trips????? I was in the Military for 16 years and have been a GS employee for 6 and never have I had such an oppurtunity!


Spur of the moment splurge of insanity....for me.....


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## i_am_bedford_falls (Nov 23, 2006)

College field course for me (South Africa, Belize, Costa Rica).


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

i_am_bedford_falls said:


> I actually had handled one the night before. I took the chance and it didn't do anything to my skin. I knew that they could cause irritation, but had no idea the secretions could be so overwhelming.


That is good news.. Some people can't even be in the same room with a stressed one as they start to show the eye irritation and sneezing. 

Ed


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## MonarchzMan (Oct 23, 2006)

i_am_bedford_falls said:


> Based on that photo, #2 is Bufo melanochlorus (wet forest toad - I think) in my opinion. It appears to be a juvenile based on the size you described as well as the pattern. A great picture of a juvenile is plate 81 in the Savage guide. The parotoid gland appears to be small and triangular shaped, which is a good way to split out some of the Bufo species.


Nah, it's not a Bufo. I'm pretty sure it's a Big-Headed Frog (_Craugaster megacephalus_) which is a Leptodactylid species. The )( pattern on the back is pretty indicative, as I remember, of this species (plus the giant head). Here's a picture of one I took from La Selva:










_Physaelamus pustulosus_ more common common name is the Tungara Frog which looks like this:










And in regards to the first one, I think that it is a _Tink_ Frog named after their call. Dink sounds like an insult!


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## wcsbackwards (Oct 4, 2008)

_Craugastor_ is apparently considered a Brachycephalid now.


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