''Dyscophus guineti'', the false tomato frog or the Sambava tomato frog, is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

in the family

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family of frogs. The 683 species are in 63 genera and 11 subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family. Evolution A molecular phylo ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, subtropical or tropical

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s, swamps, freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

es, intermittent freshwater marshes, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Description, The Dyscophus guineti male frogs are yellowish, and in size 60-65mm. The female frogs are red- orange often with many small reticulations, in size 90-95mm. Some of these frogs have an

Odontoma An odontoma, also known as an odontome, is a benign tumour linked to tooth development. Specifically, it is a dental hamartoma, meaning that it is composed of normal dental tissue that has grown in an irregular way. It includes both odontogenic h ...

which are

tumors A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

from a tooth that also contain tissue. These cause bad tooth eruption and

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of erupted teeth. Another aspect which concerns these frogs is the way they capture their prey using their tongues and mouth. It is based on how close their prey is to them, the way they capture it changes. If their prey is smaller and at an azimuthal location of less than 40A degrees, they will aim their heads at the prey and not their tongues. If their prey is larger and at an azimuthal location greater than 40A then they proceed to aim both their head and tongue at their prey. The process when the prey is larger is better known as hydrostatic elongation. The dysciphus guinteti also has tongue movements sperate of the lower jaw which changes their speed, momentum, and projection of their tongue in different situations. Monroy, & Nishikawa, K. C. (2009). Prey location, biomechanical constraints, and motor program choice during prey capture in the tomato frog, Dyscophus guineti. Journal of Comparative Physiology., 195(9), 843–852. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-009-0463-2

References

Sources

AmeyZoo: Frogs that are commonly kept as pets
* Giulia Tessa, Fabio M. Guarino, Jasmin E. Randrianirina & Franco Andreone (2011) Age structure in the false tomato frog ''Dyscophus guineti'' from eastern Madagascar compared to the closely related ''D. antongilii'' (Anura, Microhylidae), African Journal of Herpetology, 60:1, 84–88, DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2011.561881. Dyscophus Endemic frogs of Madagascar Amphibians described in 1875 Taxa named by Alfred Grandidier Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Microhylidae-stub