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Giant Gladiator Treefrog - head closeup, Uraba, Colombia After navigating the Cotton-top Tamarin for only 2 or 3 hours, we made a retreat. It&#039;s an absolutely gorgeous forest but our pace was too slow due to the conditions. It would have taken us another 6 hours of uphill deep mud where each step sucks you in 20 inches, in order to reach grounds where some birding was possible.<br /> <br /> A pity, I&#039;d gladly spent weeks navigating this forest, but we only had one daytime block assigned to this park, so it was the right thing to try to find a more productive use of our day. Retreating back to the park ranger&#039;s hut, we found this absolutely huge treefrog there.<br /> <br /> It&#039;s known as the Rusty Frog, but I prefer the cooler Giant Gladiator Treefrog name. Even to our local guide Carlos, an absolute herping fanatic, it was the first time he saw it in his life. Indeed, the range within Colombia is described as only occurring in the Amazon and Colombian lowlands, so it&#039;s not expected here.<br /> <br /> Our very own herping specialist John Sullivan has some more info on the species on this website:<br /> <a href="http://www.wildherps.com/species/H.boans.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.wildherps.com/species/H.boans.html</a><br /> <figure class="photo"><a href="https://www.jungledragon.com/image/58892/giant_gladiator_treefrog_uraba_colombia.html" title="Giant Gladiator Treefrog, Uraba, Colombia"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/media.jungledragon.com/images/2/58892_thumb.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=05GMT0V3GWVNE7GGM1R2&Expires=1759968010&Signature=FcoaITdYHPBHGeZfA1tN1OQP91I%3D" width="200" height="138" alt="Giant Gladiator Treefrog, Uraba, Colombia After navigating the Cotton-top Tamarin for only 2 or 3 hours, we made a retreat. It&#039;s an absolutely gorgeous forest but our pace was too slow due to the conditions. It would have taken us another 6 hours of uphill deep mud where each step sucks you in 20 inches, in order to reach grounds where some birding was possible. <br /> <br /> A pity, I&#039;d gladly spent weeks navigating this forest, but we only had one daytime block assigned to this park, so it was the right thing to try to find a more productive use of our day. Retreating back to the park ranger&#039;s hut, we found this absolutely huge treefrog there.<br /> <br /> It&#039;s known as the Rusty Frog, but I prefer the cooler Giant Gladiator Treefrog name. Even to our local guide Carlos, an absolute herping fanatic, it was the first time he saw it in his life. Indeed, the range within Colombia is described as only occurring in the Amazon and Colombian lowlands, so it&#039;s not expected here.<br /> <br /> Our very own herping specialist John Sullivan has some more info on the species on this website:<br /> http://www.wildherps.com/species/H.boans.html<br /> <br /> Check out its amazing eyes:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/58893/giant_gladiator_treefrog_-_head_closeup_uraba_colombia.html<br /> Back:<br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/58894/giant_gladiator_treefrog_-_back_uraba_colombia.html Antioquia,Colombia,Colombia Choco &amp; Pacific region,Hypsiboas boans,South America,Uraba,Urab&aacute;,World" /></a></figure> Antioquia,Colombia,Colombia Choco & Pacific region,Giant Gladiator Treefrog,Hypsiboas boans,South America,Uraba,Urabá,World Click/tap to enlarge

Giant Gladiator Treefrog - head closeup, Uraba, Colombia

After navigating the Cotton-top Tamarin for only 2 or 3 hours, we made a retreat. It's an absolutely gorgeous forest but our pace was too slow due to the conditions. It would have taken us another 6 hours of uphill deep mud where each step sucks you in 20 inches, in order to reach grounds where some birding was possible.

A pity, I'd gladly spent weeks navigating this forest, but we only had one daytime block assigned to this park, so it was the right thing to try to find a more productive use of our day. Retreating back to the park ranger's hut, we found this absolutely huge treefrog there.

It's known as the Rusty Frog, but I prefer the cooler Giant Gladiator Treefrog name. Even to our local guide Carlos, an absolute herping fanatic, it was the first time he saw it in his life. Indeed, the range within Colombia is described as only occurring in the Amazon and Colombian lowlands, so it's not expected here.

Our very own herping specialist John Sullivan has some more info on the species on this website:
http://www.wildherps.com/species/H.boans.html

Giant Gladiator Treefrog, Uraba, Colombia After navigating the Cotton-top Tamarin for only 2 or 3 hours, we made a retreat. It's an absolutely gorgeous forest but our pace was too slow due to the conditions. It would have taken us another 6 hours of uphill deep mud where each step sucks you in 20 inches, in order to reach grounds where some birding was possible. <br /> <br /> A pity, I'd gladly spent weeks navigating this forest, but we only had one daytime block assigned to this park, so it was the right thing to try to find a more productive use of our day. Retreating back to the park ranger's hut, we found this absolutely huge treefrog there.<br /> <br /> It's known as the Rusty Frog, but I prefer the cooler Giant Gladiator Treefrog name. Even to our local guide Carlos, an absolute herping fanatic, it was the first time he saw it in his life. Indeed, the range within Colombia is described as only occurring in the Amazon and Colombian lowlands, so it's not expected here.<br /> <br /> Our very own herping specialist John Sullivan has some more info on the species on this website:<br /> http://www.wildherps.com/species/H.boans.html<br /> <br /> Check out its amazing eyes:<br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/58893/giant_gladiator_treefrog_-_head_closeup_uraba_colombia.html<br /> Back:<br /> <br /> https://www.jungledragon.com/image/58894/giant_gladiator_treefrog_-_back_uraba_colombia.html Antioquia,Colombia,Colombia Choco & Pacific region,Hypsiboas boans,South America,Uraba,Urabá,World

    comments (3)

  1. View Christine Young's profile
    Christine Young
    Lion
    View Lion class
    Gorgeous. Again, another frog with absolutely incredible eyes. Amphibian eyes would make an awesome abstract collage...But, the mud - that’s crazy. Must have been exhausting to attempt to traverse that. Posted 7 years ago
    1. View Ferdy Christant's profile
      Ferdy Christant
      Lion
      View Lion class
      The mud was both fun and exhausting. I generally don't mind a little hardship like that. In fact, it kind of excites me, as usually it means you're going to an interesting place :)

      So it was not really an effort issue in this case, it was a time issue. This was another part of Uraba (we moved hotel for one day) where we had a single day to explore, and we couldn't use all daylight just to hike.

      Quite a pity, as it's one of the most incredible forests I've ever set foot in. I could spent weeks exploring just that park.       Posted 7 years ago, modified 7 years ago
      1. View Christine Young's profile
        Christine Young
        Lion
        View Lion class
        Maybe you'll get back there next time! I agree that the most arduous places to get to are often the most worthwhile, and it's so much fun to muck through to the end :)
         Posted 7 years ago

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The Giant Gladiator Treefrog

The rusty tree frog, "Boana boans", is a species of frog in the Hylidae family found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

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Similar species: Frogs
Species identified by Ferdy Christant
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By Ferdy Christant

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Uploaded Apr 10, 2018. Captured Oct 27, 2017 13:28.
country flag of Colombia Explore Colombia 8,334 2,805 0
  • NIKON D850
  • f/3.5
  • 1/200s
  • ISO80
  • 105mm