''Theloderma'', the bug-eyed frogs, mossy frogs or warty frogs, is a genus 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 ...

s in the family

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly known as ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Rhacophorinae The Rhacophorinae are a subfamily of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae. They range from tropical Africa and Asia to temperate China and Japan. Genera The following genera are recognised in the subfamily Rhacophorinae, representing 422 species: * ...

. They are found from northeastern India and southern China, through Southeast Asia, to the

Greater Sunda Islands The Greater Sunda Islands (Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay: ''Kepulauan Sunda Besar'') are four tropical islands situated within the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean. The islands, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and S ...

; the highest

species richness Species richness is the number of different species represented in an community (ecology), ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the Abundance (ecology), abunda ...

is in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

. Some species, especially '' T. corticale'', are sometimes kept in captivity. They are medium to small-sized frogs with maximum

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

s that range from depending on species, and their skin can be smooth, warty or tuberculated. The genus includes species that are contrastingly marked, but most are very well-camouflaged, resembling plant material (typically bark or moss) or bird droppings. Little is known about their behavior, but they feed on small

arthropod 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 ...

s. In species where known, breeding takes place in a small water pool in a cavity of a tree,

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

. The female places 4–20 eggs just above the water. After about one to two weeks they hatch into

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s that drop into the water; they

metamorphose Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically developmental biology, develops including birth, birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through ...

into froglets after a few months to a year.

Species and taxonomy

The

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of ''Theloderma'' is '' Nyctixalus''. The

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

of this genus and ''Nyctixalus'' as well as ''

Theloderma moloch ''Theloderma moloch'', Assam Indonesia tree frog, Eerie tree frog, Xizang warty tree frog, or black-spotted frog is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in northeastern India (Arunachal Pradesh and Assam) and adjacent Tibe ...

'' has been in flux; today both AmphibiaWeb and

Amphibian Species of the World ''Amphibian Species of the World 6.2: An Online Reference'' (ASW) is a herpetology database. It lists the names of frogs, salamanders and other amphibians, which scientists first described each species and what year, and the animal's known range ...

recognize the two genera as valid. Following the Amphibian Species of the World, there are 26 recognized species in the genus ''Theloderma'': * ''

Theloderma albopunctatum ''Theloderma albopunctatum'', the dotted bubble-nest frog, warty tree frog, rough-skinned small tree frog, cobalt-gray warted frog, rough-skinned whistling tree frog, rough-skinned small tree frog, rough paddle-leg frog, white-banded small tree ...

'' (Liu and Hu, 1962) * ''

Theloderma annae ''Theloderma annae'', Anna's bug-eyed frog or Anna's mossy frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Vietnam. It has been observed in the Ngoc Son–Ngo Luong Nature Reserve and Cuc Phuong National Park. Descript ...

'' Nguyen, Pham, Nguyen, Ngo, and Ziegler, 2016 * ''

Theloderma asperum ''Theloderma asperum'' is a frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is also known as the pied warty frog, hill garden bug-eyed frog, or somewhat informally, bird poop frog. The frog can be found in the northeastern India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,https:/ ...

'' (Boulenger, 1886) * ''

Theloderma auratum ''Theloderma auratum'', the golden bug-eyed frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Vietnam and predicted in Laos. It has been recorded in montane tropical forest habitats. Description The adult male frog measure ...

'' Poyarkov, Kropachev, Gogoleva, and Orlov, 2018 * ''

Theloderma baibungense ''Theloderma baibungense'', the Baibung small treefrog, is a frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It lives in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Scientists found some 82 and 193 and 850 meters above sea level. This frog lives in wet habitats that a ...

'' (Jiang, Fei, and Huang, 2009) * '' Theloderma bicolor'' (Bourret, 1937) * ''

Theloderma corticale ''Theloderma corticale'' (common names: mossy frog, Vietnamese mossy frog, Tonkin bug-eyed frog, moss bug-eyed frog, and or the formerly recognized ''Theloderma kwangsiense''Kwangsi warty treefrog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophor ...

'' (Boulenger, 1903) * ''

Theloderma gordoni ''Theloderma gordoni'' is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is known from northern Thailand, northern Laos, and central to northern Vietnam. Common names Gordon's bug-eyed frog, Gordon's warted frog, and large warted treefrog hav ...

'' Taylor, 1962 * ''

Theloderma horridum ''Theloderma horridum'' is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. This frog lives in lowland rainforests, where it specializes in old-growth forests, where it has been observed ...

'' (Boulenger, 1903) * ''

Theloderma khoii ''Theloderma khoii'', or Khoi's mossy frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to northern Vietnam and southern China's Yunnan Province. It has been observed between 1320 and 1750 meters above sea level in Vietnam an ...

'' Ninh, Nguyen, Nguyen, Hoang, Siliyavong, Nguyen, Le, Le & Ziegler, 2022 * ''

Theloderma lacustrinum ''Theloderma lacustrinum'', the lake bug-eyed frog, is a frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Laos. Scientists know it exclusively from the type locality: Ban Naxang Village near the Nam Lik Reservoir. Appearance The adult male f ...

'' Sivongxay, Davankham, Phimmachak, Phoumixay, and Stuart, 2016 * '' Theloderma laeve'' (Smith, 1924) * '' Theloderma lateriticum'' Bain, Nguyen, and Doan, 2009 * ''

Theloderma leporosum ''Theloderma leporosum'' (Malaya bug-eyed frog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra (Indonesia). ''Theloderma leporosum'' inhabits evergreen lowland and montane rainforests. In Malaysi ...

'' Tschudi, 1838 * '' Theloderma licin'' McLeod and Norhayati, 2007 * ''

'' (Annandale, 1912) * '' Theloderma nagalandense'' Orlov, Dutta, Ghate, and Kent, 2006 * '' Theloderma nebulosum'' Rowley, Le, Hoang, Dau, and Cao, 2011 * '' Theloderma palliatum'' Rowley, Le, Hoang, Dau, and Cao, 2011 * '' Theloderma petilum'' (Stuart and Heatwole, 2004) * '' Theloderma phrynoderma'' (Ahl, 1927) * '' Theloderma pyaukkya'' Dever, 2017 * '' Theloderma rhododiscus'' (Liu and Hu, 1962) * '' Theloderma ryabovi'' Orlov, Dutta, Ghate, and Kent, 2006 * '' Theloderma stellatum'' Taylor, 1962 * '' Theloderma truongsonense'' (Orlov and Ho, 2005) * '' Theloderma vietnamense'' Poyarkov, Orlov, Moiseeva, Pawangkhanant, Ruangsuwan, Vassilieva, Galoyan, Nguyen, and Gogoleva, 2015

References

Rhacophoridae Amphibians of Asia Amphibian genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob von Tschudi {{Rhacophoridae-stub