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Natural behaviour
The Red Eyed Tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) is a nocturnal species that lives an aboreal life, often resting on the underside of large leaves during the day (Leenders, 2001). A carnivorous diet is what the Red Eyed Tree frog has evolved to eat, most likely due to the abundance of insects in comparison to other resources (Selbie and Shand-Perreault, 2008). Mainly insects are consumed by this species, however small frogs may also be eaten when available (Selbie and Shand-Perreault, 2008).
Mating
During rain season the red eyed tree frogs will come down to the forest floor to breed in small pools before they disappear (Tyler and Knight, 2011). Tyler and Knight (2011) also states that the call of the male red eyed tree frog is that of a long drawn out moan, this is to attract potential mates. Tadpoles of the red eyed tree frog also have a unique behaviour they exhibit when a threat of being eaten in the egg is present. When a parasitic wasp or alternative predator is near by and ready to attack the tadpoles, the tadpoles will release themselves from their egg and into a pool of water below (Stevens, 2013). Amazingly these tadpoles can distinguish between rain drops and predators landing on their leaf (Stevens, 2013). These tadpoles are able to differentiate between the benign stimuli they encounter daily (rain drops) and predatory stimuli, this is most likely due to evolution of either failure to respond correctly to predatory stimuli and equivalently responding incorrectly to benign stimuli (Caldwell et al., 2010). When tadpoles reach the froglet stage they develop a body with yellow eyes and green skin, many of the distinguishing factors that make the Red Eyed Tree frog’s physical appearance come later in their lifespan as they reach maturity (Starrett, 1960). Froglets are able to change colour to a reddish brown during the evening to further increase their camouflage as light fades from the day (Pyburn, 1963).
Defense Mechanisms
Red Eyed Tree frogs have developed skin that secretes defensive antimicrobials, this allows them to ward off infection by giving them a sort of shield against microbes (Wang et al., 2016). They are also capable of startling their predators by opening their large colourful eyes, this is a possible adaptation and reason for why they have red eyes (Boman, 2014). This strategy is know as 'startle colouration' and is particularly effective as this species will close their eyes during the day showing only a green figure on the leaf whilst they are resting, to a sudden bright display of colours (Boman, 2014).
The Red Eyed Tree frog (Agalychnis callidryas) is a nocturnal species that lives an aboreal life, often resting on the underside of large leaves during the day (Leenders, 2001). A carnivorous diet is what the Red Eyed Tree frog has evolved to eat, most likely due to the abundance of insects in comparison to other resources (Selbie and Shand-Perreault, 2008). Mainly insects are consumed by this species, however small frogs may also be eaten when available (Selbie and Shand-Perreault, 2008).
Mating
During rain season the red eyed tree frogs will come down to the forest floor to breed in small pools before they disappear (Tyler and Knight, 2011). Tyler and Knight (2011) also states that the call of the male red eyed tree frog is that of a long drawn out moan, this is to attract potential mates. Tadpoles of the red eyed tree frog also have a unique behaviour they exhibit when a threat of being eaten in the egg is present. When a parasitic wasp or alternative predator is near by and ready to attack the tadpoles, the tadpoles will release themselves from their egg and into a pool of water below (Stevens, 2013). Amazingly these tadpoles can distinguish between rain drops and predators landing on their leaf (Stevens, 2013). These tadpoles are able to differentiate between the benign stimuli they encounter daily (rain drops) and predatory stimuli, this is most likely due to evolution of either failure to respond correctly to predatory stimuli and equivalently responding incorrectly to benign stimuli (Caldwell et al., 2010). When tadpoles reach the froglet stage they develop a body with yellow eyes and green skin, many of the distinguishing factors that make the Red Eyed Tree frog’s physical appearance come later in their lifespan as they reach maturity (Starrett, 1960). Froglets are able to change colour to a reddish brown during the evening to further increase their camouflage as light fades from the day (Pyburn, 1963).
Defense Mechanisms
Red Eyed Tree frogs have developed skin that secretes defensive antimicrobials, this allows them to ward off infection by giving them a sort of shield against microbes (Wang et al., 2016). They are also capable of startling their predators by opening their large colourful eyes, this is a possible adaptation and reason for why they have red eyes (Boman, 2014). This strategy is know as 'startle colouration' and is particularly effective as this species will close their eyes during the day showing only a green figure on the leaf whilst they are resting, to a sudden bright display of colours (Boman, 2014).
Origin, Evolution and Distribution
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As seen in figure 5 A. callidryas can be found throughout Southern Mexico and the outskirts of North-East Colombia. The Red Eyed Tree frog falls into the order of Anura as seen in figure 4 (Bhatnagar and Bansal, 2008). Anura is a highly diverse group of amphibians, Red Eyed Tree frogs are placed into this order as they lack teeth, have a large tongue, contain a tadpole stage in their lifecycle and have vocal sacs in their male specimens (Heying, 2014)
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/9/0/95907564/screen-shot-2016-12-16-at-14-46-01.png?308)
Red eyed tree frogs come under the class Amphibia, as seen in Table 1. Amphibia is the classification of all frogs, salamanders and caecilians (Bhatnagar and Bansal, 2008). The red eyed tree frog is a product of evolution, most likely coming from Devonian ancestors that would crawl from pond to pond using fin-like legs, from this, a tiny amount that managed to walk on land best out of the species will have had a higher survival rate inducing natural evolution towards the amphibians we know today (Bhatnagar and Bansal, 2008). Red eyed tree frog’s now possess small lungs and skin that allows the exchange of gasses and liquids (Bhatnagar and Bansal, 2008).