WEST MEXICO LEAF FROG Pachymedusa dacnicolor – Cope 1864

IDENTIFICATION:

DISTRIBUTION:

HABITAT: Seasonal Creek Habitat, 1,700′, Sonora, Mexico Oviposition Site, 1,800′, Sonora, Mexico Habitat, 250′, Sinaloa, Mexico Pacific Lowland Habitat, 100′, Guerrero, Mexico

NATURAL HISTORY:

TAXONOMY: Closely related to the leaf frogs of the genus Agalychnis.

TYPE: Described as Phyllomedusa dacnicolor by Cope (1864). Type(s): Formerly in USNM; now lost according to Kellogg (1932). [...]]]>
Adult, 800′, Colima, Mexico

WEST MEXICO LEAF FROG
Pachymedusa dacnicolor – Cope 1864

IDENTIFICATION:

DISTRIBUTION:

HABITAT:

Seasonal Creek Habitat, 1,700′, Sonora, Mexico

Oviposition Site, 1,800′, Sonora, Mexico

Habitat, 250′, Sinaloa, Mexico

Pacific Lowland Habitat, 100′, Guerrero, Mexico

NATURAL HISTORY:

TAXONOMY:
Closely related to the leaf frogs of the genus Agalychnis.

TYPE:
Described as Phyllomedusa dacnicolor by Cope (1864). Type(s): Formerly in USNM; now lost according to Kellogg (1932). Type locality: “Near Colima”, Mexico.

PERSONAL NOTES:
I have seen Pachymedusa throughout it’s range, from Sonora (northern range extension to be published shortly) to Oaxaca. In Sonora we found them calling from the pads of cactus adjacent to cattle tanks in an oak woodland; in Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco and Colima we found them around temporary pools in Tropical Thornscrub and Tropical Deciduous Forest habitats; in Oaxaca we heard calling frogs in a backyard in the town of Pochutla. On several occasions I have found freshly laid Pachymedusa eggs being predated by Leptodeira punctata and L. maculata (Cat-eyed snakes).

CONSERVATION STATUS:
IUCN Red List status for this species is “Least Concern” due to it’s wide geographical distribution, large population size, adaptability and tolerance for a broad range of habitats (including those signifigantly altered by humans).

REFERENCES:
Faivovich, J., C. F. B. Haddad, P. C. A. Garcia, D. R. Frost, J. A. Campbell, and W. C. Wheeler. 2005. Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with special reference to Hylinae: phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 294:1-240.