Osteocephalus sp. tree frog - closeup, La Isla Escondida, Colombia

Found near the lodge in La Isla Escondida. We put it on a leaf for a few minutes to photograph it. Like many treefrogs, it was highly cooperative.

comments (8)

John Sullivan

Lion

The large Amazonian treefrogs with prominent radial patterns in their irises are usually Osteocephalus sp. Boana crepitans does have greenish eyes but I haven't seen any photos of them with crazy eyes like this. I suspect this is Osteocephalus. It could be Osteocephalus taurinus, though the eye pattern is more irregular than typical for that species. It might be some other Osteocephalus that I'm not familiar with. Whatever it is, it's an amazing frog! Posted 6 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks so much John, good thing I checked! The one from last year...
  
  ...was identified then by a local specialist, I'll see what he thinks about this new observation. Will let you know if I know more. Posted 6 years ago, modified 6 years ago
2. 1. John Sullivan
    
    Lion
    
    That one last year had cool eyes, but didn't have the radial lines in the eyes -- it didn't have Osteocephalus-type eyes. Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      Gotcha! Removed the ID for now, updated the title and put the entry on my notorious list :) Posted 6 years ago
    2. 1. John Sullivan
        
        Lion
        
        Ha! Don't forget to check out the Osteocephalus range maps from the links on https://www.batrachia.com/orden-anura/hylidae-127-spp/osteocephalus/ to see which species are known from near La Isla Escondida. Posted 6 years ago
      2. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks, if I filter based on same province, this would be the list:
        Osteocephalus buckleyi
        Osteocephalus cabrerai
        Osteocephalus carri
        Osteocephalus deridens
        Osteocephalus planiceps
        Osteocephalus taurinus
        Osteocephalus verruciger
        Osteocephalus yasuni
        
        If I include altitude, the list is a lot shorter:
        Osteocephalus buckleyi
        Osteocephalus carri
        Osteocephalus taurinus
        
        I checked some reference images of each and am not seeing anything close, both in eyes and the patterns on the back. Posted 6 years ago
        
        John Sullivan
        
        Lion
        
        I know at least taurinus is quite variable in pattern, and fairly variable in eye-weirdness too. Often the eye pattern is a very neat series of radial lines, but sometimes it's more broken-up and asymmetrical, more like yours.
        
        Osteocephalus buckleyi is definitely not right -- that one is green and mossy-looking.
        
        I'm unfamiliar with Osteocephalus carri -- the only photos I can find easily are the ones on that batrachia.com site. The eyes in the photos on that page show a pattern that's even more broken-up and asymmetrical than yours, but I haven't seen enough photos of different individuals to have a sense of how variable they are.
        
        Hopefully your local specialist can help here! Posted 6 years ago
        
        Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        For some reason I also had my eye set on taurinus, maybe because it shows up a lot, perhaps it is common. That would possibly be the closest match. You've been a great help as always, thank you so much! Posted 6 years ago

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