The white-lined leaf frog (''Phyllomedusa vaillantii'') is a species of

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

in the subfamily

Phyllomedusinae Phyllomedusinae is a subfamily of hylid tree frogs found in the Neotropics commonly called leaf frogs. Formerly, they were often considered as their own family, Phyllomedusidae. The subfamily is considered to be the sister group to the Austr ...

. It is found in northern South America. 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, subtropical or tropical swampland, rivers, and freshwater marshes. 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 ...

. The adult male frog measures to in snout-vent length and the adult female frog to . Male and female frogs show notable

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

in the shapes of their snouts. The skin of the dorsum is mostly green with reddish-brown on the flanks and whitish or orange spots. This frog can have red, lavender, or orange color on the inner parts of its hind legs. The ventrum is light orange. This frog is

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

and nocturnal in its habits. The female lays eggs during the rainiest part of the year. She builds a nest out of leaves hanging over a pond or other body of water. She lays the eggs in the nest with jelly over them to prevent desiccation. When the tadpoles hatch out of the eggs, they fall out of the nest into the water below. Sometimes the tadpoles breathe air during the day, but they do not do this at night.

References

Phyllomedusa Amphibians of Bolivia Amphibians of Brazil Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians of Guyana Amphibians of Peru Amphibians of Suriname Amphibians of Venezuela Amphibians described in 1882 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Phyllomedusinae-stub