''Rhacophorus margaritifer'', also known as the Java flying frog or Javan tree 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

Rhacophoridae The Rhacophoridae are a family of frogs that occur in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, South India and Sri Lanka, Japan, northeastern India to eastern China and Taiwan, south through the Philippines and Greater Sundas, and Sulawesi. They are commonly ...

. 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 ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, Indonesia. It is known from several areas in Java. It is locally known as ''katak-parasut jawa''.

Description

In a series collected from Taman Safari Park, males measure and a female in

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

. The snout is subacuminate when viewed from above and rounded in lateral view. The tympanum is visible but very distinct. The supratympanic fold is moderate. Skin is dorsally smooth and ventrally weakly areolate. The arms are short and slender, whereas the hind limbs are long and slender. The fingers and toes bear discs and have some webbing (more so in the female). In preserved specimens, dorsal ground color is tan, brown, or gray. Males have some black specks. ''Rhacophorus margaritifer'' can display unken reflex.

Habitat and conservation

''Rhacophorus margaritifer'' occurs in both lowland and montane forests, including in disturbed forests, at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. Breeding takes place in streams. This species 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 ...

associated with smallholder farming and subsistence wood collecting. Also ''

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ''Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis'' ( ), also known as ''Bd'' or the amphibian chytrid fungus, is a fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis in amphibians. Since its discovery in 1998 by Lee Berger, the disease devastated amphibian popul ...

'' has been detected in it, although this is not known to be associated with declines. It is present in the pet trade, with an annual quota of 900 specimens. It occurs in several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2705006 margaritifer Amphibians of Indonesia Endemic fauna of Java Amphibians described in 1837 Taxa named by Hermann Schlegel Taxonomy articles created by Polbot