Hylodes japi

Hylodes japi is a frog.  It lives in São Paulo, Brazil.  People have seen it in exactly one place: Serra do Japi, between 850 and 1050 meters above sea level.

The adult male frog is 22.9 - 25.8 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 26.4 – 28.0 mm long.mm. The frog is silver-white in color with small dark spots. The belly is lighter in color than the back. Some frogs have red-brown color on the back and on the tops of the feet and legs. The iris of the eye is the color of copper metal.

This frog lives near streams where the water flows fast. The frogs mate in the water. The male frog sings for the female frog near the stream. She goes to him. They both swim to the bottom of the stream to find a good place for eggs.  The female may leave without mating. Or the male can dig in the bottom of the stream. The two frogs mate inside the tunnel, and the female lays her eggs there. Then the male covers the top of the tunnel with sand.

The tadpole is brown in color with soe yellow on the back. The iris of its eye is black in color. They swim near the bottom of the water. They eat anything they can find. Scientists think they might eat other tadpoles.

There are fewer of these frogs than in the past. Scientists believe this is because human beings change the places where the frogs live, cutting down forests for wood and places to make towns and cities. They also think the frog may get sick.

First paper

References

Category:Frogs of South America