Skip to main content

European Tree Frog

Hyla arborea is a member of the world most geographically diverse and widespread frog family, Hylidae, which has little buddies hopping, climbing and swimming on 6 continents. (sorry Antarctica)

European tree frogs in particular can be found nearly everywhere in continental Europe, hence the creative name. These little guys are tiny. Not world's smallest frog tiny, but pink-rubber-eraser-sized tiny. (about 4.5 cm at max) And despite being called a tree frog, they aren't huge fans of trees, preferring scrubby bushes and meadows. They live off of a diet consisting of arthropods, and avoid their fishy nemeses at all costs.

Unfortunately, the European tree frog is becoming threatened in some areas, due to encroachment of human populations. Noise pollution is also having an effect on their mating practices, since finding each other requires sending out calls which are becoming more and more difficult to hear. But there is happiness to be had! Since 1988, the Riga Zoo in Latvia has been working to reintroduce the frog in the wild. They had disappeared due to loss of habitat and the extinction of the beaver within the country, but now both are back! Huzzah!

Oh, and on the topic of reintroduced Latvian beavers, read this. Crafty beavers!

frog image from Treehugger.com , beaver from guardian.co.uk
Labels:

Comments

  1. Hannah Q. ParrisApril 30, 2010 at 7:26 PM

    Also, I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that when given the choice, these frogs will choose orzo over bowtie pasta about 84% of the time. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LaurenApril 30, 2010 at 7:56 PM

    Ah yes, I do believe I read that study. They also have a penchant for ordering sun dried tomato Alfredo sauce on the side.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JackJuly 17, 2017 at 4:55 AM

    hay Have a great time in your break and do come back and update us on whats been up. hope to hear back from you soon.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more