Triprion spatulatus

The Mexican shovel-headed tree frog, shovel-headed tree frog, or shovelhead treefrog (Triprion spatulatus) is a frog that lives in Mexico.  It lives on the Pacific side (west) of the mountains.  There are two groups of this frog: Diaglena spatulata spatulata further north and Diaglena spatulata reticulate further south.

Appearance

The adult male frog is 61 - 87 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog 75 - 101 mm long.  Its nose is long, and its breathing holes are to the side instead of in front. There are ridges on its face. It has big eyes that stick out to the sides.  The front parts of its front legs are thick and strong. The disks on its toes are very large.  The back legs are short.

This frog can be a few different colors: yellowish light brown, gray-green, dark green, and green with yellow marks. The head is darker in color than the body. The venter is white. The male frog's voice organ is yellow with brown marks. There can be dark marks on the back. Frogs from different places can have different marks.

Actions

This frog hides during the day and looks for food at night.  It lives in trees.  Scientists think it eats many different things.

The male frog's voice sounds like "braaa."

Threats

This frog is not in danger of dying out but there are fewer of them than there were.  This is because human beings change the places where the frog lives.  There have also been long times with less rain than usual.  Too much ultraviolet light can also kill this frog.
References

Category:Frogs of North America