Hyloxalus pulchellus

The Faldas rocket frog, Rio Cosanga rocket frog, or Espada's rocket frog (Hyloxalus pulchellus) is a frog.  It lives in  Ecuador and Colombia.

Body
The adult male frog is 17.3–21.5 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 19.6–24.4 long.  There is a line down each side of the body starting at the eye. There are marks on the chest. There are white marks on the belly. The male frog's male organs are white in color.

Home

This frog lives on the ground in forests with much water in the air and in forests with only a little water in the air. People see it near streams if there are big plants nearby. They do not see it in places with only grass or rocks. It lives on the ground. People have seen this frog between 1590 and 2970  meters above sea level.

Many of the places this frog lives are protected parks: Parque Nacional Sumaco Napo-Galeras, Reserva Ecológica Antisana, Parque Nacional Llanganates, Reserva Ecológica Cayambe-Coca, Bosque Protector Sierra Azul, and more in Colombia.

Young
Scientists have seen male frogs carrying tadpoles on their backs.

Danger
Scientists say this frog is almost in danger of dying out because people change the places where it lives.  They build farms, get wood to build with, and make places for people to live. Fish that humans brought to the area can also harm this frog. Many frogs died in the 1990s but scientists do not know why. They think it might have been climate change or the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.

References

Category:Frogs of South America