The 'Leaf' That Hops

By Bruce G. Marcot, Ecology Picture of the Week:

Animals mimic dead leaves to blend into the forest floor and escape detection from predators. Such mimicry has developed in a remarkably diverse array of life forms, including butterflies and many other insects, as well as frogs.

I discovered this tiny denizen of the jungle floor in the Upper Amazon Basin of northeastern Bolivia and placed it on this green leaf for photography purposes.

This frog belongs to the large and warm-temperate and tropical family Microhylidae or narrow-mouthed frogs.  Most members of this family have the pointy heads shown here, which help in their fossorial (soil-burrowing) habitat. Apparently, two species of Microhylids amiably share their burrows with large spiders although the spiders readily prey on other frogs!

  --Bruce G. Marcot

Image and text © Bruce G. Marcot, Ph.D. Research Wildlife Ecologist,
who produces the Ecology Picture of the Week website.