''Boophis entingae'' is a species of skeleton frog endemic to northern

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Taxonomy

''Boophis entingae'' is one of many skeleton frogs and is in the '' B. goudoti'' group. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''entingae'' is named after Hildegard Enting.

Description

''Boophis entingae'' is a light beige in color with brown markings and a light colored underbelly. The dorsum, legs, and parts of the head are pale gray with black sports. Its loreal region is grayish brown. The posterior of the thighs are light blue with black reticulation. The throat is off-white. The

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of peopl ...

is copper in color, with small black spotting. The outer iris is black, while the iris periphery is turquoise green. ''Boophis entingae'' possesses the characteristics typical of a frog in the genus ''Boophis'' such as an intercalary element between the last and second-to-last fingers and toes, the presence of

nuptial pad A nuptial pad (also known as thumb pad, or nuptial excrescence) is a secondary sex characteristic present on some mature male frogs and salamanders. Triggered by androgen hormones, this breeding gland (a type of mucous gland) appears as a spike ...

s and absence of femoral glands in males, absence of gular glands in males, enlarged terminal discs of fingers and toes, and features. It is assigned to the ''B. goudoti'' group because of features such as brownish dorsal ground color, non-transparent ventral skin, presence of white tubercles under the

cloaca A cloaca ( ), : cloacae ( or ), or vent, is the rear orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive (rectum), reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals. All amphibians, reptiles, birds, cartilagin ...

l opening, and other features. ''Boophis entingae'' differs significantly genetically from other species in this group. It differs from '' B. roseipalmatus'' because of the smaller size of males and an absence of pinkish color on webbing and in the iris.

Behavior

Males call at night from perch heights about 1–2 meters, along streams that are usually slow-moving and with a sandy floor. The advertisement call of ''B. entingae'' consists of a regular series of 2–4 moans. The distress call is one long pulsed note. There are two call types. The first is a series of 2–3 pulsing notes that become unharmonious at the end, spread over a large frequency range. The other is sometimes emitted, and it is a series of short click notes. The advertisement and distress calls of ''B. entingae'' differ from '' B. brachychir'' because of its longer note duration, longer inter-note intervals and slower note repetition.

Habitat and conservation

''Boophis entingae'' occurs in rainforests at elevations below , typically near relatively slow-moving streams with sandy bottoms. While it is locally abundant, ''B. entingae'' is threatened by ongoing habitat loss. It is, however, present in several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2910516 entingae Endemic frogs of Madagascar Amphibians described in 2011 Taxa named by Frank Glaw Taxa named by Ignacio J. De la Riva Taxa named by Miguel Vences Taxa named by Jörn Köhler