Lysapsus limellum

The Uruguay harlequin frog (Lysapsus limellum) is a frog. It lives in Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina.  Scientists have seen it as high as 800 meters above sea level.

The adult male frog is 16.2–24.8 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 15.3-21.0 mm long.  This frog can be light green, dark green-brown, or any color in between.  Many of the frogs have stripes, but they do not all have the same kinds of stripes.  The iris of the eye is gold in color.

This frog is much larger when it is a tadpole than when it is a frog.  The tadpole can be 40 mm long with the tail (11 mm long not counting the tail).  The tip of the tadpole's tail is black in color.  Scientists think this may make animals that want to eat the tadpole attack its tail instead of its head.

Scientists found these frogs in places with much water and few trees.  For example, river basins on savanna grasslands.  This animal goes to places where plants float on top of the water instead of growing up from the bottom.  The tadpoles swim in the middle of the water.  They stay near plants that grow up from the bottom of the pond.

This frog lays eggs all year.  The male frog sits on floating plants and sings for the female.  The female lays 10-182 eggs at a time.

Fish and animals without bones eat the adult frog.  Insects eat the tadpole.

First paper

References

Category:Frogs of South America