Tree Frog Facts | Costa Rica Wildlife Guide

Amphibians have more than a dozen types of reproductive methods, and they need bodies of water to reproduce. Their soft-shelled eggs float and get stuck in little creeks or forest floor bracts. After the tadpole stage, they lose their tails and gills and adopt a less aquatic life.

Tree frogs, for example, spend their lives in trees and can stay stuck to leaves and branches using the “suction cups” in the tip of their fingers. Most species in Costa Rica are relatively small and present advanced camouflage techniques perfectly blending with their surroundings. During reproductive nights they will gather around bodies of water, and the males will use their “vocal sacks” to fill the air with their display croaking, trying to attract the chosen female. During mating, a nuptial hug or “Amplexus” will allow the male to fertilize the eggs that the female is laying before they run free over the aquatic element. The tadpoles will complete the cycle until they are able to return to the body of water, this time to perpetuate the species.

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