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
Phyllomedusa vaillantii is a medium size frog the exhibits sexual dimorphism. Males have snouts that appear angular from above and nearly truncate. In females, the snout appears rounded from above and inclined anteroventrally. Snout-vent lengths range from 50.2 - 57.5 mm in males and 68.8 - 81.2 mm in females (but see Lima et al. 2005, which states male SVL is 58 - 65 mm and females are 74 - 83 mm). Its elevated parotid glands are angular and extend to the sacrum, displayed with longitudinal row of white granules along the edge of the gland. The first finger is opposable and shorter the second. Conversely, the first toe is opposable and longer to the second. There are moderately large discs on fingers and toes. The forearm of this species is slender. Dorsal skin is rough, particularly tubercular on the hind limbs of its adult frogs (Duellman 1974).

Phyllomedusa tarsius and Phyllomedusa bicolor are similar to Phyllomedusa vaillantii. However, Phyllomedusa tarsius differs by its orange-red iris with a network of black reticulations. Phyllomedusa bicolor differs by its light brown fingers with green adhesive discs (Lima et al. 2005).

In life, the dorsal skin and sides of head are green. The flanks viewed from above are colored green, whereas the flanks from below are colored reddish brown; this change in color is separated by a row of longitudinal, oval cream to pale orange spots. The front and back surfaces of the thighs range from reddish brown to lavender with small spots of cream to pale orange. The ventral skin is pale grayish-orange with gray reticulations present in smaller members of the species and dull grayish brown reticulations in larger ones. Throat is decorated with two lavender cream spots. A large pale green spot surrounded by cream coloration can be observed on the chest. The lower lip is cream color. The iris is pale gray with a greenish hue. The eyelids are clear (Duellman 1974).

Distribution and Habitat

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

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

Phyllomedusa vaillantii is an Amazonian species that can be found in parts of Guyana, French Guiana, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and northern Bolivia (Duellman 1974; Lima et al. 2005).

This species occurs throughout the Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke in Brazil, where it is most commonly found in larger ponds with stream connections (Lima et al. 2005).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
Phyllomedusa vaillantii is arboreal and nocturnal. Males call on branches near ponds. Reproduction occurs in the rainiest months. The species lay clutches of about 600 eggs, within a gelatinous mass, in leaf nests over ponds. The tadpoles that fall into the water after hatching are brilliant orange, and can be distinguished from P. bicolor because they have a black spot between the eyes (Lima et al. 2005).

The tadpoles of Phyllomedusa vaillantii were observed to segregate in schools based on size during the day but appeared spread out during the night. Size based assortment could be explained by kin recognition and preference, which has been shown in the lab (Branch 1983).

Tadpoles exhibited contagious air breathing during the day but not at night. Phyllomedusa vaillantii tadpoles also exhibited temporal shifts in feeding behavior even though food choice was constant among the tadpoles. Laboratory experiments suggest that behavioral shifts of the tadpoles are influenced by light rather than cued by endogenous rhythms (Branch 1983).

Trends and Threats
While habitat lost and degradation may be affect P. vaillantii, there are currently no know threats to this species (Azevedo-Ramos et al. 2010).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities

Comments
Phyllomedusa vaillantii is synomous with P. perlata, P. feltoni, and P. blombergi (Duellman 1974).

References

Azevedo-Ramos, C., Reynolds, R., La Marca, E., Coloma, L.A., Ron, S. (2010). Phyllomedusa vaillantii. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. Downloaded on 05 March 2013.

Branch, L.C. (1983). “Social Behavior of the Tadpoles of Phyllomedusa vaillanti.” Copeia, 1983(2), 420-428.

Duellman, W. E. (1974). “Taxonomic Notes on Phyllomedusa (Anura: Hylidae) from Upper Amazon Basin.” Herpetologica, 30(2), 109-110.

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]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2021 Phyllomedusa vaillantii <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/666> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Oct 11, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 11 Oct 2024.

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