Agalychnis lemur

Agalychnis lemur
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Hylidae
Genus:	Hylomantis
Species:	H. lemur
Binomial name
Hylomantis lemur (Boulenger, 1882)
Synonyms
Agalychnis Lemur/ Phyllomedusa lemur /Lemur leaf frog

Hylomantis lemur is a species of frog in the Hylidae family that is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, rivers, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss and the fungal disease chytridiomycosis.

Habitat

These species of tree frogs thrive in humid lowlands and montane primary forests with sloping areas. The minima elevation in which this species was sighted being 440 meters and the maxima, 1600 meters. They usually populate areas margining the Atlantic versant in Costa Rica and Panama slightly crossing over to Colombia. Costa Rica is currently host to three sites in which this species resides. They are Fila Asuncion (an abandoned farm 15 km southwest of Limon); a forested area near Parque National Barbilla; and Guayacan in Limon Province. Of these three locations Fila Asuncion is the only one know to have a large breeding population.

Biology

Morphological Characteristics

During the day the Lemur lead frog is a vibrant green but a darkens to brown as night approaches. This characteristic enhances its ability to camouflage in the day and hunt at night. The Lemur Leaf Frog is an observably frail, thin frog. The frog is lacking is musculature in its arms and legs and presents no inter-digital webbing on the front or hind limbs. This species of frog also displays sexual dimorphism between males and females with the females being morphologically larger. Adult females range approximately from 40-45mm in length by 15-20mm in length across the abdomen in resting position, while males range from approximately 30-35mm in length by 10-15mm in length across the abdomen in resting position. Females on average weigh roughly 4 grams with males weighing in at half that weight.

Activities

The lemur leaf frog is mainly nocturnal, allocating the majority of its daylight hours to resting on leaves. During their resting period they attach themselves to the underside of the smooth surface of the leaves.

Diet

The specific diet of the Hylomantis lemur is not catalogued but it is believed that their diet relies primarily on insects.

Reproduction

Breeding

Hylomantis lemur participate in "prolonged breeding" that takes place continuously during the rainy seasons, primarily observed during spring or summer. These species engage in the ritual calling. The male lemur frog intones a series of clicks to call out the females.

Eggs

Hylomantis lemurs produce up to 20 eggs at a time. They are usually deposited under resting leaves overhanging a water supply. These eggs are blueish green or grey encased in the typical jelly mass. Depending on the temperature, food, and water supply tadpoles will usually drop into the water at around 7 days and the metamorphosis , 90–150 days.

Population

Although the Hylomantis lemur was once considered a common species in Costa Rica it has since declined in population. With more than a 80% decrease in population in a period of 10 years it's is now closely being monitored in Panama were it is still abundant in the lower elevations of central and eastern parts of the country. However, there have been no further reports on the populations of these lemur frogs endemic to Columbia. Due to their marked drop in population these species of lemurs has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2004. Related causes that may be linked to the disappearance of these frogs are chytridiomycosis (a disease affecting only amphibians contacting with zoospores of the Chytrid fungus) and general loss of habitat from deforestation.

Resistance to Chytridiomycosis

Chytrid fungus has been plaguing amphibians globally resulting in a number of amphibian extinctions. Researchers are currently using non-invasive imaging technology to better understand how a specific species of tree frogs in Central America are proving resilience to this fungus. Scientist are attributing tree frog’s ability to withstand the deadly fungus to their unusual skin which allows the frogs to bask in the hot sunlight boosting their temperatures adequately enough to kill off the fungus. While typically a frog’s long exposure to sunlight would dry out its skin, this species of tree frogs in Costa Rica thrive under the high temperature conditions. Scientists believe these tree frogs are able to thrive under these harsh conditions, which normally negatively affect frogs because of their skins ability to reflect the sunlight, regulating their core temperature, yet maintaining enough heat to kill off the chytrid fungus.

At Omar Torrijos National Park, it was predicted that this species could survive chytridiomycosis because they contained dermaseptin-L1 and phylloseptin-L1 peptides which contained resistance to gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. While there has been survivors, the appearance of chytridiomycosis still caused population decline despite their antimicrobial skin peptides. This shows that in-vitro studies may not represent what actually happens in living organisms.

Conservation

The first in situ conservation effort for the lemur leaf frog was started in 2003. The project, carried out by the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center, consists of introducing tadpoles to artificial ponds every year, gradually increasing the wild population of the frog inside of the reserve. The project has been so successful that the frogs are spreading out from the center.

In addition, h. lemur has been a beneficiary of conservation efforts on behalf of the Amphibian Conservation Center and the Amphibian Recovery and Consolation Commission. It has been successfully bred in captivity both at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and in El Valle, Panama. The breeding efforts of this species in Atlanta were successful enough that offspring have been sent to 15 other countries' own conservation centers, a feat that has been described as a template for future amphibian conservation efforts.

In Costa Rica, lemur leaf frogs are currently only found in two remaining locations. Genetic testing of the mitochondrial DNA of the Costa Rican lemur leaf frog populations show that those frogs are distinct from the Panamanian frogs. This highlights the need for conservation of the Costa Rican populations. A study published by Springer International characterized nine loci in the genes of lemur leaf frogs, allowing for the creation of a studbook for this species to help in conservation and breeding efforts.

References

• Morelle, Rebecca. "Sun-loving Frogs Aid Fungus Fight." BBC News. BBC, 24 June 2008. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
• Solís, F., Ibáñez, R., Savage, J., Jaramillo, C., Fuenmayor, Q., Kubicki, B., Pounds, J., Chaves, G., Jungfer, K. & Lips, K. 2008. Agalychnis lemur. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T55855A11381418. . Downloaded on 22 October 2015.
• Skelton, Tim. "AARK EX SITU Management Guidelines." Amphibian Ark. 2. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.