Cuban Treefrog
Osteopilus septentrionalis
Summary 7
The Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) is an amphibian native to the Caribbean region of the Western Hemisphere. It is the largest tree frog of North America. Its wide diet and ability to thrive amongst humans has made it a highly invasive species with established colonies in northern Florida, the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and thorough the Caribbean Islands. They range in size from 3 to 5.5 in (76 to 140 mm) and vary in color from olive-brown and bronze to gray...
Description 8
Cuban treefrogs are relatively large frogs in the family Hylidae. They have very large toe pads which are sometimes as large as their tympanum. There is no webbing between the toes on the front legs; however, the rear toes are slightly webbed. Their color is quite variable. They are usually gray to gray green but range to tan brown. While these frogs have irises that are parallel to the ground when sitting, they do not have a stripe running through or below their eyes, as some tree frogs do. They have a distinct tarsal fold extending the full length of the tarsus. Juvenile Cuban tree frogs can be difficult to identify (Duellman and Crombie 1970; Ashton and Ashton 1988; Carmichael and Williams 1991; Conant and Collins 1991). Tadpoles have a rounded body, and are black-colored on their dorsal side. The fleshy part of the wide-finned tail is gray-brown, and the fin has scattered dark flecking on it (Ashton and Ashton 1988).
A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio).
Sources and Credits
- (c) copepodo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/63661371@N00/1276449744
- (c) 2006 James H. Harding, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=193016&one=T
- (c) 2008 Frank Teigler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=267765&one=T
- (c) 2008 Frank Teigler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=267766&one=T
- (c) kogia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by kogia
- (c) cyric, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by cyric
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopilus_septentrionalis
- (c) AmphibiaWeb © 2000-2011 The Regents of the University of California, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/23854277
