Description
Agalychnis terranova is a red-eyed tree frog with an average snout-vent length of 46.9mm. The body is slender and the head is depressed. The large eyes are about 34% of the head. The tympanum is readily visible and is about half of the length of one eye. The arms and legs are long, slender, and robust. There are thin, smooth dermal ridges on the forearms from the disc of the fourth finger to the elbow. The relative finger length is I < II < IV < III and the relative toe length is I < II < III < V < IV. All digits have well-developed discs. Tubercles are omnipresent and webbing is apparent on the feet. The dorsal skin is smooth with 1 - 4 round warts, and the flanks have numerous warts. The ventral surfaces of the body are rough with warts, but the ventral surfaces of arms and legs are smooth. There are no paratoid or dorsolateral glands present (River-Correa et al. 2013).

The body of A. terranova tadpoles is ovoid in the lateral view and elliptic in dorsal view. The body is two times longer than it is wide and the body length is slightly less than half the total length including the tail body. The snout is rounded and the nostrils are dorsolateral and elliptical with slightly flattened dorsal edge. The nostrils are closer to tip of the snout than the eyes. The eyes are large relative to the body and dorsolateral. The vent tube is short, opening postero-laterally, and connected along all its length with the ventral fin on the ventral edge. The dorsal fin emerges posteriorly to the body tail-junction and is not as deep as the ventral fin. The ventral fin emerges anteriorly to the vent tube and narrows posteriorly. Hind limb length at stage 39 equals 32.4% of total length with vestigial webs are in fingers III – IV, IV – V. The width of the oral disc is 50% of maximum body width and is directed anteroventrally. The median part of the posterior labium is bordered by a single row of papillae and the rest of the mouth is bordered by two to four rows of papillae. The upper jaw is robust and the lower jaw is more slender and V-shaped. Both jaws have fine serrations and are wide at the base. There are two rows of labial teeth on the anterior labium and three rows of labial teeth on the posterior labium (Rivera-Correa et al. 2013).

DIAGNOSIS:

Agalychnis terranova is readily distinguished from all species members of the Agalychnis callidryas group by the former’s orange flanks speckled with small white warts compared to the blue flanks of Agalychnis callidryas. This is the main distinction between A. terranova and its sister species, A. callidryas, however the presence of a red iris, less extensive webbing, tubercles, and a gold reticulated membrane palpebral are other distinctions between A. terranova and other Agalychnis species (River-Correa et al. 2013).

COLORATION:

In life, the dorsal regions of the body, forearms, loreal, and tympanic regions are green. The flanks are orange with white warts. The upper arms, fingers, and toes are light orange, except for the outer finger and toe, which are orange-green. The cloacal area, throat, and ventral side area are creamy-white. The iris is red with black reticulations and there are golden reticulations in the palpebral membrane. Nuptial excrescence are dark brown (River-Correa et al. 2013).

In preservation, the dorsal regions of body, forearms, legs, loreal, and tympanic regions are light blue. The flanks, ventral side, arms, fingers and toes remain cream colored. The iris becomes copper-like. The nuptial excrescence remain dark brown (River-Correa et al. 2013).

The dorsum and flanks of A. terranova tadpoles are a blotchy brown color with olive brown and silver melanophores. The dorsum of phalanges are brownish. The oral disc has many spaced melanophores. The parietal peritoneum is an iridescent platinum-yellow color. The dorsal and ventral tail fins are transparent and highly vascularized with scattered red spots and scattered dark pigmentations that persist in preserved specimens with dendritic appearance. The iris is gold (Rivera-Correa et al. 2013).

VARIATION:

Adult females are roughly 25% larger than males in snout-vent length. The number of warts on the dorsal side can vary between 1 - 4 warts. The warts on larger individuals are more spaced. There is variation in the webbing formulae of fingers and toes present in specimens. Vomerine teeth number can vary between 3 to 8 teeth (River-Correa et al. 2013).

Variation of A. terranova tadpoles is not documented although there are ontogenic changes consistent with other species in the Agalychnis genus.

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Colombia

View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.

Agalychnis terranova has been observed in a total of four localities along the Middle Magdalena River in the Andean foothills within a range of 380 - 900 meters. The species was found in was forest canopy of humid tropical forests of the Magdalena River Valley (River-Correa et al. 2013, IUCN 2017). At the time of its description, it was the only Agalychnis species in the Magdalena River Valley, indicating a geographic barrier between it and other members of the genus (River-Correa et al. 2013).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
All specimens were observed at night, indicating that the species is nocturnal. The tropical forests that A. terranova inhabits are mostly represented by a plant community dominated by Cecropia insignis, Clusia palida, Cupania americana, Gleoespermum longifolium, Morisona oblongifolia, Inga umbellifera, Talisia oliviformis, Therocarpus officinali and Trichilia moschata. Tadpoles and adult frogs have been observed in artificial ponds dominated by plants of the genus Musa (Rivera-Correa et al. 2013).

Calls from A. terranova were recorded calling from vegetation of 2 to 3 meters in height near artificial ponds (River-Correa et al. 2013).

Breeding was not observed at the time of the species’ description. Mating is presumed to occur randomly between individuals when an encounter occurs, and are expected to be conducted near the ground above moving freshwater bodies of water (River-Correa et al. 2013).

Agalychnis terranova has indirect development with a tadpole stage (River-Correa et al. 2013).

Other amphibians found in sympatry with A. terranova are Craugastor raniformis, Dendrobates truncatus, Engystomops pustulosus, Hypsiboas boans, Leptodactylus bolivianus, Phyllomedusa venusta, Pristimantis taeniatus, Rhinella gr. margaritifera, Sachatamia punctulata, Scinax rostratus and Smilisca phaeota (Rivera-Correa et al. 2013).

Trends and Threats
The species is listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List with a recommendation for habitat protection at sites where A. terranova readily occurs, including both on land and water. The species is primarily declining due to mining activities in the areas that it occurs and the construction of a local dam causing habitat fragmentation (IUCN 2017).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Mining
Dams changing river flow and/or covering habitat
Habitat fragmentation

Comments

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS:

ETYMOLOGY:

The species epithet, “terranova”, comes from the Latin word “terra” referring to Earth and “novus” meaning “new”, which alludes to the fact that the species was found in an area in which no other Agalychnis species had ever been recorded (River-Correa et al. 2013).

References

IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. 2017. "Agalychnis terranova". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T77185986A77186132.en.

River-Correa, M., Duarte-Cubides, F., Rudea-Almonacid, J. V. Daza, J. M. (2013). "A new red-eyed treefrog of Agalychnis (Anura: Hylidae: Phyllomedusinae) from middle Magdalena River valley of Colombia with comments on its phylogenetic position." Zootaxa 3636(1), 085-100. [link]

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2021 Agalychnis terranova <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/7998> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Nov 4, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 4 Nov 2024.

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