AmphibiaWeb - Trachycephalus resinifictrix
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(Translations may not be accurate.)

Trachycephalus resinifictrix (Goeldi, 1907)
Boatman Frog, Wife Toad, Amazon Milk Frog
family: Hylidae
subfamily: Hylinae
genus: Trachycephalus

© 2006 Andreas Schlueter (1 of 32)

 view video (1761.3K MPG file)
  hear Fonozoo call

[video details here]

Conservation Status (definitions)
IUCN Red List Status Account Least Concern (LC)
CITES No CITES Listing
National Status None
Regional Status None
Access Conservation Needs Assessment Report .

   

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
View Bd and Bsal data (3 records).

Source credit:
Guia de Sapos da Reserva Adolpho Ducke, Amazonia Central by Lima et al. 2005


INPA (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia)
PPBio (Programa de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade)
PELD (Pesquisas Ecológicas de Longa Duração)

Description
Males 77 mm, females 88 mm. The dorsum is dark brown with large khaki-green to light brown spots. The legs, arms and fingers have darker brown bars with cream borders. The snout is rounded. There is a large khaki-green triangle between the eyes pointing in the direction of the snout. The dorsum has large tubercles. The iris is golden with a black Maltese cross centered on the pupil. There is a vocal sac on each side of the head. Lima et al.(2005)

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela

 

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
View Bd and Bsal data (3 records).
In Brazil, this species occurs throughout the Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke. Lima et al. (2005) It is primarily found in primary forest. It will occupy this canopy unless it descends to a calling site, a large water-filled tree holes. (Hodl 1991)

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
The species is arboreal and nocturnal. Males call only from water filled tree holes, at heights between 2 and 32 m. Calling seems to only occur during rainless, cloudless nights. Calls can travel long distances through the use of the rain forest low-frequency sound window. Lima et al.(2005) Reproduction occurs mainly in the rainy season between November and May. Clutches of about 2500 eggs form a gelatinous mass that floats near the surface of water or adheres to the inner wall of the tree holes. Tadpoles develop until metamorphosis in the tree holes. Tadpoles have dark brown dorsums and light colored bellies. They feed on conspecific eggs and vegetable detritus. Lima et al.(2005) A typical call by T. resinifictrix consists of three notes similar in spectral composition. The notes have clear harmonic structures with sound energy distribution over a wide range of frequencies. At the first note of the call, there is a maximum intensity at the sixth harmonic (1300 Hz) and also increased intensities at the fourth (867) and fifths (1083) as well. The first harmonic is 216.6 Hz. Calls were separated by approximately 15.8 s and consisted of a series of 1 to 6 notes. The variable call rate was highest at the beginning of the night, and lowest at the end of the night. The mean duration of a note was 307 ms and the mean internote interval lasted 633 ms.

Comments
Similar species: Osteocephalus taurinus can be distinguished from T. resinifictrix because it does not have a khaki-green dorsum or a Maltese cross in the eye. Lima et al.(2005) It is known on the upper Amazonas and the river Itacoai as "sapo canoeiro", meaning boatman frog because it croaks imitate the tapping of the oars against the side of the canoes. Lima et al.(2005)

For more information on the call site and advertisement calls of T. resinifictrix, click the "view video" button above.

Click here to download a .pdf of Hödl's (1991) paper describing the film.

References

Hodl, W. (1991). ''Phrynohyas resinifictrix (hylidae, anura) - calling behaviour.'' Wiss. Film (Wien), 42, 63-70.

Lima, A. P., Magnusson, W. E., Menin, M., Erdtmann, L. K., Rodrigues, D. J., Keller, C., and Hödl, W. (2005). Guia de Sapos da Reserva Adolpho Ducke, Amazonia Central. Átterna Design Editorial, Manaus. [link]



Originally submitted by: Albertina P. Lima, William E. Magnusson, Marcelo Menin, Luciana K. Erdtmann, Domingos J. Rodrigues, Claudia Keller, Walter Hödl (first posted 2007-11-27)
Edited by: Keith Lui (2010-10-19)

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2010 Trachycephalus resinifictrix: Boatman Frog <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/1024> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Mar 18, 2024.



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Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 18 Mar 2024.

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