''Cornufer guentheri'', commonly known as the Solomon Island leaf frog, Solomon Island eyelash frog and Gunther's triangle frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Ceratobatrachidae The Ceratobatrachidae are a family of frogs found in the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, the Philippines, Palau, Fiji, New Guinea, and the Admiralty Islands, Admiralty, Bismarck Islands, Bismarck, and Solomon Islands (archipelago), Solomon Islands. Tax ...

. This frog can be found throughout the

Solomon Islands archipelago The Solomon Islands (archipelago) is an island group in the western South Pacific Ocean, north-east of Australia. The archipelago is in the Melanesian subregion and bioregion of Oceania and forms the eastern boundary of the Solomon Sea. Th ...

(both in the

Autonomous Region of Bougainville In developmental psychology and morality, moral, political, and bioethics, bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Auto ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, an independent state), except for San Cristobal. Scientists have seen it between 0 and 830 meters above sea level. Ceratobatrachus guentheri

''Cornufer guentheri'' is abundant throughout the Solomon Islands where it can be found on the

forest floor The forest floor, also called detritus or wikt:duff#Noun 2, duff, is the part of a forest ecosystem that mediates between the living, aboveground portion of the forest and the mineral soil, principally composed of dead and decaying plant matter ...

in tropical rain forests; it can also live in secondary forests, rural gardens, and in other modified habitats. They average about in length, with females being larger than the males. Their cryptic coloration and dorsal patterns aid in their

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

—often mimicking decaying leaf matter—giving rise to the common name of "leaf frog". They are an interesting example of a species that undergoes

direct development Direct development is a concept in biology. It refers to forms of growth to adulthood that do not involve metamorphosis. An animal undergoes direct development if the immature organism resembles a small adult rather than having a distinct larval ...

—there is no free-living tadpole stage; instead, the juvenile emerges from the egg as a fully developed froglet. Eggs are laid in small hollows at the base of trees. They grow rapidly from a long froglet on a diet of tiny insects until they can take the adult diet of

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

arthropods Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

, smaller

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

and small

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

. They are ambush predators, pouncing quickly on any prey animals that happen to wander within their reach – including their own species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28017708 guentheri Amphibians of Papua New Guinea Amphibians of the Solomon Islands Amphibians described in 1884 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger Taxonomy articles created by Polbot