April rain - some Taiwan frogs

[numpty]

Hi there,

Up until recently it had been a relatively dry start to the year. Then it rained or was otherwise cool and overcast for a couple of weeks, so I took advantage to get out and snap some blurry shots with my ailing compact.

The first bunch of shots are of a frog that I'd been unsuccessful in seeing previously. Eiffinger's tree frog, Kurixalus eiffingeri, the only frog in Taiwan that I know of to display parental care. It lays eggs in bamboo or tree stumps (though these photos were taken in a crack in a wall), then the father returns periodically to moisten the eggs and keep an eye out for predators. The mother returns to feed the tadpoles unfertilized eggs from time to time. Ahhh ...!

I didn't even notice the adult clinging to the wall at first.






They were all around in the trees, but difficult to see.


Also seen and blurrily snapped, Kuhl's creek frog, Limnonectes kuhlii, a frog with fangs.


A week later I headed out again with Microhylidae on my mind. These are probably my favourite frogs at the moment, but they're awfully tricky to see as they tend to make their presence known only after heavy rain, and then only by calling from beneath forest litter. This location was an assembly of small-scale market gardens in a clearing on some hills just outside Taipei. Junk and rubbish everywhere ... boxes, rusty bins, food and cigarette packages, beer bottles ... but also enough nooks and crannies for water to accumulate, with many different species of frogs and tadpoles about.

Luckily I didn't have to go digging below the fag packets and pot noodles to find Microhyla fissipes (the ornate narrow-mouthed frog) ... one was stuck in a water tank trying to climb the sheer walls. I gave it a helping hand.



And there were a bunch of other frogs hanging around calling to each other as well.

The emerald green tree frog, a Taiwanese endemic, and largest of the green tree frogs here.




Kurixalus idiootocus, another Taiwanese endemic.



The chirping Buergeria japonica, one I wasn't expecting.


The brown tree frog, Polypedates braueri, recently separated as a distinct species from P. megacephalus (which itself was only separated from P. leucomystax in the 1980s).


And two usual suspects, Hylarana latouchii ...


... and Bufo bankorensis, the endemic of the two toad species here.


Thanks for looking!

[Sunshine]

Very cool frogs! (And toads) Thanks for sharing! I love that last toad! He looks mad

[Mentat]

Hello and congratulations on your great photography ! Thanks for sharing your frog adventures with us .

[numpty]

Thanks guys!

I love that last toad! He looks mad

I've yet to meet a toad that didn't!

[UncleChester]

Interesting stuff. The parental care is pretty neat and it's great that you were able to photograph the adults hanging out with the eggs.

The paratoid glands on that toad look unreal, almost like they're little balloons strapped to the back of it's head.

Thanks for sharing both the natural history and the photos!

[Jerah Teoh Yong Qiang]

That is some absolutely amazing shots there! Thanks for sharing!
Kam siah!

[Gorgonopsia]

Thanks for sharing, Numpty. Also, thanks for telling the sotories of the species. I have got interesting the pictures of the Kurixalus, and also that Microhylidae can be found only after heavy rains.

[numpty]

That is some absolutely amazing shots there! Thanks for sharing!
Kam siah!

Thank you!

Thanks for sharing, Numpty. Also, thanks for telling the sotories of the species. I have got interesting the pictures of the Kurixalus, and also that Microhylidae can be found only after heavy rains.

Glad you found the posts interesting!