The Caucasian parsley frog (''Pelodytes caucasicus'') 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

Pelodytidae Pelodytidae, also known as the parsley frogs, or rarely, mud divers, is a Family (biology), family of frogs. It contains a single extant genus, ''Parsley frog, Pelodytes'', and three genera only known from fossils. The extant species are found in ...

. It is found in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and possibly

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are temperate

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, temperate

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

s, intermittent rivers, freshwater

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. The natural history of this frog is poorly understood, with most of it coming from behaviors and habits observed during the spring when they gather in vernal pools to breed. One study has found that during the summer, the frogs take shelter inside remote limestone caves, and showed a strong preference for caves which harbored colonies of bats. This is most likely because they could eat the insects that proliferated in the bats' guano.

References

* Dinets, V. Trogloxeny in the Caucasian parsley frog (Pelodytes caucasicus). ''Herpetological Bulletin'', October 2015
Tarkhnishvili, D., Gokhelashvili, R. 1999. The Amphibians of the Caucasus. Pensoft Publishers

AT Chubinishvili, RK Gokhelashvili, DN Tarkhnishvili. 1995. Population ecology of the caucasian parsley frog (''Pelodytes caucasicus'' Boulenger) in the Borjomi Canyon. ''Russian J. Herpetol''. 2: 79-86.
Pelodytes Amphibians described in 1896 Amphibians of Azerbaijan Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{mesobatrachia-stub