The Mission golden-eyed tree frog or Amazon milk frog (''Trachycephalus resinifictrix'') is a large species of

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

frog native to the

Amazon Rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. It is sometimes referred to as the blue milk frog due to a sticky, milk-like substance that they produce when feeling threatened. It was first discovered along the Maracanã River in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. This species was previously within the genus ''Phrynohyas'', which was recently synonymized with ''Trachycephalus''.

Description

These frogs are fairly large, reaching sizes of in length. Adult frogs are light grey in colour with brown or black banding, while juveniles will exhibit stronger contrasts. As they age, their skin develops a slightly bumpy texture. Their blood tends to be a shade of blue which can be shown through their skin, most boldly in the mouth area and toe pads. The "milk" in the common name comes from the milky fluid these frogs excrete when stressed. File:Amazon Milk Frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix), CMN.jpg, Adult File:Amazon milk frog - Trachycephalus resinifictrix.JPG, Amazon milk frog – ''Trachycephalus resinifictrix''

Habitat

Mission golden-eyed tree frogs are found in the tropical rain forests of South America. Populations are widespread in Guyana, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. They often inhabit vegetation which extends over permanent, slow-moving water sources.

In captivity

''Trachycephalus resinifictrix'' is commonly found in captivity. They are relatively easy to care for, but require a significant amount of space, humidity, and regular enclosure maintenance to ensure a clean healthy environment for the frog.Josh's Frogs: Amazon Milk Frog Care
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/ref> In the wild, they live in temperatures around , and thus in captivity prefer a similar ambient temperature. these frogs are completely carnivorous and thrive on a diet of insects in captivity.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q672277 Amphibians of Bolivia Frogs of Brazil Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians of French Guiana Amphibians of Guyana Frogs of Peru Amphibians of Suriname Amphibians of Venezuela Amphibians described in 1907 Taxa named by Émil Goeldi Trachycephalus