Raorchestes chalazodes

The Chalazodes bubble-nest frog, Günther's bush frog, or white-spotted bush frog (Raorchestes chalazodes) is a frog.  Scientists have seen it in one place: Travancore in India. People have seen them between 1200 and 1600 meters above sea level.

The adult male frog is about 23.7 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 26 mm long. The adult frog is green in color with white bumps.  The belly is yellow-white with white bumps.  Parts of the legs are yellow and green. The iris of the eye is yellow in color with black marks.

This frog lives on bamboo plants in the species group Ochlandra. These plants grow underneath bigger trees in evergreen forests. The frog can also live on bamboo plants growing next to roads. This frog cannot make holes in the bamboo plant. It must use holes that the Nilgiri palm squirrel (Funambulus sublineatus) has cut.

Adult male frogs try to get the best bamboo plants to sit on. Then they sing for the adult female frogs.  The bamboo plant is a tube with space inside.  The female frog goes inside the bamboo plant to lay eggs.  She lays 5-8 eggs at a time. Then she goes to another bamboo plant with a different adult male frog and lays more eggs.

The adult male frog is near the eggs until they hatch.  He stops animals from eating the eggs.  He stops other adult male R. chalazodes from eating the eggs.  The female frog does not stay near the eggs.

These frogs hatch out of their eggs as small frogs. They are never tadpoles.

There are fewer of this frog than there were in the past. This frog is in danger of dying. But human beings change the places where the frog lives by cutting down trees.  Humans take the wood from the trees to build things with.  They cut the forests to make farms and places for animals to eat grass. Sometimes when humans cut bamboo to use, they take the frogs away with them too. Scientists think the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis can also make this frog sick.

References

Category:Frogs of Asia