79 images Created 21 Feb 2013
Madagascar Frogs
Ever since I was a child I have always particularly loved frogs and kept them for pets, so somewhere like Madagascar that has over 300 species of frogs and still counting, 99% of which are endemic, was a frog heaven for me. Frogs are the only amphibians as there are no toads, salamanders, or newts. I used to look forward to the twilight hours every evening to start searching for new species, and to hear the amazing frog chorus, turned on if by a switch; every species contributing its own unique noise to the nocturnal symphony.
An exploratory journey up a stream would reveal different species at every level; the most species I found in one evening was about 10 at Montagne D’Ambre National Park. The level of camouflage displayed by many of the species was extraordinary, especially the array of very small, almost invisible “l.b.js.” – “little brown jobs,” down amongst the forest litter. Mantella are among the most striking of frogs, and fill a similar ecological niche to the poison dart frogs of South America in that both use bright colours to advertise their toxic skin secretions to predators. Using an opposite survival strategy are the Mantidactylus, which rely on cryptic camouflage instead of gaudy colours.
There are also many tree frogs ( Boophis, Heterarixalus) and a group of toad-like frogs including the tomato frog (Dyscophus antongili), which releases a sticky glue-like secretion that protects it against snakes.
I will be adding the locations for the majority of the photos in due course and identifying the individual species wherever possible. It’s always possible when photographing the smaller fauna in a country with so much biodiversity as Madagascar that I may have photographed something previously unrecorded by science, which always adds to the tremendous excitement and incentive that I feel when I’m exploring somewhere as amazing as Madagascar.
An exploratory journey up a stream would reveal different species at every level; the most species I found in one evening was about 10 at Montagne D’Ambre National Park. The level of camouflage displayed by many of the species was extraordinary, especially the array of very small, almost invisible “l.b.js.” – “little brown jobs,” down amongst the forest litter. Mantella are among the most striking of frogs, and fill a similar ecological niche to the poison dart frogs of South America in that both use bright colours to advertise their toxic skin secretions to predators. Using an opposite survival strategy are the Mantidactylus, which rely on cryptic camouflage instead of gaudy colours.
There are also many tree frogs ( Boophis, Heterarixalus) and a group of toad-like frogs including the tomato frog (Dyscophus antongili), which releases a sticky glue-like secretion that protects it against snakes.
I will be adding the locations for the majority of the photos in due course and identifying the individual species wherever possible. It’s always possible when photographing the smaller fauna in a country with so much biodiversity as Madagascar that I may have photographed something previously unrecorded by science, which always adds to the tremendous excitement and incentive that I feel when I’m exploring somewhere as amazing as Madagascar.
