Sani Lodge Pt.5 – The Amphibians!
The narrow-mouth frog Hamptophryne boliviana is another frog I almost always see. Although, it is usually limited to 1 or 2 animals, again I found dozens; although most were small juveniles.
Hamptophryne boliviana is an ant specialist. Numerous juveniles were seen.
Another common frog, the map treefrog, Hypsiboas geographicus, was found calling in the grasses in the lagoon, but also found well within the forest just ‘hanging’ out. They are usually good for a few poses before they’ve had enough and hunker down, closing their eyes.
An extremely photogenic Hypsiboas geographicus on the flower bracts of a bromeliad.
I started my serious frog hunting by taking out a canoe and driving myself into the reeds and grasses to look for calling frogs. The call of the Dendropsophus leucophyllatus group (D. leucophyllatus, D. triangulum, D. riveroi, and a couple others) was dominant. Most were D. triangulum but with enough searching I might have turned up D. sarayacuensis or another species.
A plain phase version of Dendropsophus triangulum. They usually have a round or hour-glass spot on the back. They can also come in a reticulate or clown phase.
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4 comments
Another great post, Tim! Thanks for sharing your experiences and your awesome photos!
Oh, great picture! That’s a cool little frog. I’ve always wanted to go to South America and look for dart frogs. Just to see them in their natural environment!
Great looking trip. I want to field herp in south America sometime. Wish I had somebody who loved them as much as me to go with!
The dart frog community is pretty close-knit. Dive in and you’ll find someone to take a trip with you. I’ve been fortunate to see lots of dendrobatid species in the wild (from several countries); many of them exceedingly rare. You do have to put in the work to pull it off but the rewards are worth it. I’ll have to write a dendrobatid hunting article some day.