The Hispaniolan yellow tree frog (''Osteopilus pulchrilineatus''), or common treefrog, 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

Hylidae Hylidae is a wide-ranging family of frogs commonly referred to as "tree frogs and their allies". However, the hylids include a diversity of frog species, many of which do not live in trees, but are terrestrial or semiaquatic. Taxonomy and s ...

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 ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, where it is found in both the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Description

Adult Hispaniola yellow tree frogs can grow to be about 43 mm for females, while the males tend to be slightly smaller and only grow to be about 39 mm. They have 3 dorsal lines that can be yellow, tan, green, or brown that are used to most easily identify the species. The lower sides of the frog are usually yellow in color as well. They can be active during the night when temperatures range from 24-27 °C. The ''Osteopilus'' genus tend to follow a

generalist A generalist is a person with a wide array of knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful or not. It may also refer to: Occupations * a physician who provides general health care, as opposed to a medical specialist; see also: ** General pract ...

diet and usually choose prey based on their size

Habitat

''Osteopilus pulchrilineatus'' is one of four endemic species to Hispaniola and can only survive in a specific set of environmental conditions. 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 mesic broadleaf forests,

riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...

s (including forest remnants),

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

s, grasslands, and marshes. It can also be found in agricultural landscapes (e.g., rice plantations, coffee and cacao plantations, and in the presence of livestock). ''Osteopilus pulchrilineatus'' is known to have at least six different breeding habitats, most of which are marine like habitats. These include vegetative ponds with nearby open grassland, ponds in mountainous areas that have a small area, streams in mountain forests, ephemeral pools in forested areas, pools found within rice fields, and rivers and streams of forested areas. Males are known to call in flooded pools after heavy rains. The estimated area that ''Osteopilus pulchrilineatus'' is said to inhabit ranges from 1,3000 km² to 2,000 km² and elevations up to almost 1,700 km².

Conservation

The species was listed on the IUCN Red List as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

until April 2012, when a new evaluation reduced the species to vulnerable. Their population is currently declining to the point that they are at risk for extirpation within the next decade. The frog exists in highly fragmented populations. Even though it is found in modified habitats, its persistence seems to depend on forests and/or wetlands as the core habitat, making it vulnerable to further

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 ...

Threats

The biggest threat to this species is habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. There are both human and natural factors that lead to these threats to its populations. Some of these include residential development, mining,

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

and diseases, habitat loss due to ranching and wood logging. Habitat loss for agriculture, usually for the production of sugarcane, is another huge threat to tree frogs in the region. Another threat to their populations comes from the decline in stream quality in Hispaniola from these human activities. In 2011, the Caribbean Amphibian Ark Conservation Needs Assessment found that the frog populations needed more in-situ conservation action if they are to survive long term. More specifically, preserving the forests and wetlands that the species is known to inhabit within the region. The species is not known to be threatened by trade or captivity.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q939921 Osteopilus Endemic fauna of Hispaniola Amphibians of the Dominican Republic Frogs of Haiti Amphibians described in 1870 Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Taxonomy articles created by Polbot