#hyperoliidae

Painted Reed Frogs (Hyperolius marmoratus taeniatus), family Hyperoliidae, Limpopo, South Africa

Senegal Running Frog Kassina senegalensis

A species of frog native to much of Africa. They can be found in many types of habitats, such as shrublands, grasslands, and wetlands, at elevations as high as 2,000 metres. They eat a variety of arthropods and secrete peptides from their skin to avoid becoming prey themselves.

A Madagascar reed frog (Heterixalus punctatus) perches on a leaf in Madagascar

Concerning the Common Reed Frog

The Common Reed Frog or African Reed Frog (Hyperolius viridiflavus) is a highly diverse species of frog native to the tropical forests and savannahs of Central Africa. There are many subspecies of the frog, with many different color morphs. While some subspecies’ coloration remains consistent, others can be highly variable, making identification of this species based on colors or patterns especially difficult. The only constant, aside from shape and size, is that the species as a whole is sexually dimorphic; males are smaller and often slightly less colorful than females.

On average, the Common Reed frog weighs 2 g and can be between 1.4 and 3.3 cm long. Individuals have a faint dark bluish streak on their sides, although it can be hard to see in frogs with heavy coloration. In addition, all subspecies have horizontal pupils, webbed feet, and a patch of skin on the throat called a gular flap that can be extended as a mating signal or a sign of aggression.

Like many tropical frogs, African reed frogs breed during the wet season. These frogs are semelparous, meaning they only breed once in their entire lives. During the mating season, males will call loudly to attract a female, and may fight for individual calling spaces; females usually choose the loudest or biggest male. Both sexes will mate with multiple individuals of the opposite sex; for females, this ensures they recieve the best genes for their offspring, and for males it increases the odds that their genes will be passed on. After mating, females lay a clutch of up to 300 eggs on submerged vegetation. The eggs hatch into tadpoles after only a few days and are fully-grown juveniles within 2 months. Young become sexually mature between 4 to 12 months after hatching, at which time they mate and then die.

The reason for their short lifespan is largely due to the climate in which they live. During the dry season, water is scarce. Both juveniles and adults are hit hard by the drought, and mortality rates during this season are high. During the dry season individuals enter a state of evistation, a kind of hibernation, in which they position themselves on dry vegetation and don’t move, eat, or drink until the next wet season. During this time, the bright coloration of the African reed frog turns white due to buildup of purine crystals under the skin. Unlike their younger counterparts, already mated frogs are unable to reduce their metabolism and water use to account for the drier conditions. As of yet, there is no record of any adult surviving more than one dry season, even in lab conditions.

Like other frogs, H. viridiflavus is an insectivore. They feed on many types of insects, including flies, mosquitoes, and gnats. In addition, tadpoles consume algae in their hatching body of water.  In turn, Common reed frogs are predated upon by turtles, fish, and snakes. Their bright coloration is thought to be a form of aposematism, warning predators that they are poisonous.  However, they are not actually toxic to consume. To show off their bright coloring and avoid predators, adults are most active during the day, but are known to call late into the night during the mating season.