The Andes giant glass frog (''Espadarana andina'') 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 Centrolenidae. It is found in the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia and the

Mérida Andes Mérida or Merida may refer to: Places *Mérida (state), one of the 23 states which make up Venezuela *Mérida, Mérida, the capital city of the state of Mérida, Venezuela *Merida, Leyte, Philippines, a municipality in the province of Leyte *M� ...

and

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the ...

of Venezuela. 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

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

s and montane evergreen dry forests. It lives along mountain streams and lays its eggs on vegetation over the streams. It is not considered threatened by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Reproductive patterns

These frogs exhibit a form of parental care known as egg attendance. Unlike many amphibians that lay their eggs in water bodies and leave them unattended, Espadarana Andina's parents remain with their eggs after laying them. They actively attend to the eggs, providing protection and ensuring their well-being until they hatch. This behavior is believed to enhance the survival rate of the offspring by guarding them against predators and environmental threats. A study conducted in a stream located in the Vereda Agua Blanca, Río Frio River basin in Santander, Colombia, analyzed patterns of reproduction sites in ''Espadarana andina''. The study concluded that preferences for sites used by males to call for females, and for females to oviposit (lay eggs) was not impacted by environmental factors such as transitions to and from rainy and dry seasons, time of day, or month of the year. The study showed that oviposition occurred the most on the invasive plant ''

Hedychium coronarium ''Hedychium coronarium'', the white garland-lily or white ginger lily, is a perennial flowering plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, native to the forest understorey of Asia. Other common names include butterfly lily, Khumpui, fragrant g ...

''. A study conducted in the Colombian Andes during the rainy season examined that male mating success was unaffected by the height of the calling place or the number of nights calling; larger males had a higher likelihood of mating than smaller males.

Development

The offspring is characterized by spots and a brown cast over their skin. However, much like their adult forms, the offspring possesses translucent skin, and perhaps most noticeably, the

chondrocranium The chondrocranium (or ''cartilaginous neurocranium'') is the primitive cartilaginous skeletal structure of the fetal skull that grows to envelop the rapidly growing embryonic brain.Salentijn, L. ''Biology of Mineralized Tissues: Prenatal Skul ...

underneath is visible. The frogs starts maturation in its eyes and nares. In the initial stages, the nares grow closer to the eyes than the snout, but as the frog develops, its nares grows closer to its snout. And, in the initial stages, its eyesight is not developed but as it matures, so does its eyesight. This is because the tadpole's eyes develop dorsolateral abilities, which means that it develops functioning eyesight. As for the beak and snout, tadpoles have

keratinized Keratin () is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as ''scleroproteins''. It is the key structural material making up scales, hair, nails, feathers, horns, claws, hooves, and the outer layer of skin in vertebrates. Kera ...

beaks that later disappear while its denticles turn into

papillae Papilla (Latin, 'nipple') or papillae may refer to: In animals * Papilla (fish anatomy), in the mouth of fish * Papilla (worms), small bumps on the surface of certain worms * Basilar papilla, a sensory organ of lizards, amphibians and fish * De ...

. Moreover, the fins that are responsible for propelling tadpoles through water form into legs through its development as a tadpole and then a frog.

References

andina Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Venezuela Taxa named by Juan A. Rivero Amphibians described in 1968 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Centrolenidae-stub