Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dear Herpers,

I'm trying to include some photos with this post. I hope it works.

I recently took these photos in Costa Rica during a birding tour, and I'm hoping there are some knowledgeable people here who enjoy an identification challenge. I could probably make more progress on my own if I had Savage's $75 field guide, but that's probably not going to happen soon; in the meantime I'm stuck with Twan Leenders' A Guide to (SOME OF THE) Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica, as well as some photos on the web of a few more species.

We were at about 3000-3500 feet elevation on the southern Caribbean slope at Rancho Naturalista in the Río Tuís Valley (above Turrialba).

This really cool Green Climbing Toad, Bufo coniferus was the only one that I was able to ID confidently. The spiky bumps down the side of the body, the ridges on the head, and the small paratoid gland are all pretty obvious.

Is this just a brown version of Bufo coniferus? I hadn't realized at the time how variable the species is, but my photos don't show exactly the same ridge pattern or spiky bumps (hard to see). The small paratoid gland points to this species though.

I'm wondering if this is Wet Forest Toad, Bufo melanochlorus. Gulf Coast Toad is probably really similar, but I think we may have been too far south for that species. Images I found of B. melanochlorus on the web were all from the the southern Pacific lowlands, so I'm not sure that we were in its range either.

This tiny frog was along the forest trail at RN. It was maybe about 3/8" to 1/2" long. Is it one of the litter frogs? I realize this is probably some unidentifiable Eleutherodactylus.

This tree frog inhabited the upper deck of Rancho Naturalista. It was about 1 3/4" long. My best guess was Smilisca sp., but I have no idea what S. puma and S. sila look like.

This frog is really tiny, but with such fascinating colors looks like it would be easy to figure out. It was about 5/8" long. Notice the little moss plantlet growing on its back! It was on the trail up the Río Tuís valley near very wet forest.

Finally, the highlight was this snake eating an Ameiva, at RN. I missed the moment of capture, but in trying to get good looks and photos of the snake, I had to paw through this Maranta plant as pointed out by Sue Adair (see the last photo). Though the snake knew it was being pursued and would move from one side of the plant to the other to avoid me, it continued to scarf down the whiptail all during this "harassment!" When it was done eating, it quickly left the premises. My best guess is Mastigodryas melanolomus, but it's truly a guess.

Good Herping,

Rich
---
Rich Hoyer
Tucson, Arizona

Senior Field Leader
WINGS, Inc.
http://www.wingsbirds.com
---

Dear Herpers,

I recently took these photos in Costa Rica during a birding tour, and I'm hoping there are some knowledgeable people here who enjoy an identification challenge. I could probably make more progress on my own if I had Savage's $75 field guide, but that's probably not going to happen soon; in the meantime I'm stuck with Twan Leenders' A Guide to (SOME OF THE) Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica, as well as some photos on the web of a few more species.

We were at about 3000-3500 feet elevation on the southern Caribbean slope at Rancho Naturalista in the Río Tuís Valley (above Turrialba).

This really cool Green Climbing Toad, Bufo coniferus was the only one that I was able to ID confidently. The spiky bumps down the side of the body, the ridges on the head, and the small paratoid gland are all pretty obvious.

Is this just a brown version of Bufo coniferus? I hadn't realized at the time how variable the species is, but my photos don't show exactly the same ridge pattern or spiky bumps (hard to see). The small paratoid gland points to this species though.

I'm wondering if this is Wet Forest Toad, Bufo melanochlorus. Gulf Coast Toad is probably really similar, but I think we may have been too far south for that species. Images I found of B. melanochlorus on the web were all from the the southern Pacific lowlands, so I'm not sure that we were in its range either.

This tiny frog was along the forest trail at RN. It was maybe about 3/8" to 1/2" long. Is it one of the litter frogs? I realize this is probably some unidentifiable Eleutherodactylus.

This tree frog inhabited the upper deck of Rancho Naturalista. It was about 1 3/4" long. My best guess was Smilisca sp., but I have no idea what S. puma and S. sila look like.

This frog is really tiny, but with such fascinating colors looks like it would be easy to figure out. It was about 5/8" long. Notice the little moss plantlet growing on its back! It was on the trail up the Río Tuís valley near very wet forest.

Finally, the highlight was this snake eating an Ameiva, at RN. I missed the moment of capture, but in trying to get good looks and photos of the snake, I had to paw through this Maranta plant as pointed out by Sue Adair (see the last photo). Though the snake knew it was being pursued and would move from one side of the plant to the other to avoid me, it continued to scarf down the whiptail all during this "harassment!" When it was done eating, it quickly left the premises. My best guess is Mastigodryas melanolomus, but it's truly a guess.

Good Herping,

Rich
---
Rich Hoyer
Tucson, Arizona

Senior Field Leader
WINGS, Inc.
http://www.wingsbirds.com
---

Rich:
Since amateurs mainly frequent these forums, I suspect that very few if any individuals know a much about herptiles from Costa Rica. Perhaps you might try other forums such as the taxonomy forum or others that deal with amphibian. You might consider contacting Dr. Jonathan Campbell at U. of Texas at Arlington. If he is not familiar with the species from that area
in Costa Rica, he may be able to guide you to someone that is.

Dad

I honestly don't know too much about the amphibians in Costa Rica but if #4, 6 and 7 were around an inch to 2 inched I think they may be Coqui. I've done some research on them simply because I would love to have them and the markings on the ones you've shown match to a *T*. Now I could be wrong ecause I'm only going on pictures I've found but they do come in many colors and textures and are in Costa Rica.

Here's a link to Costa Rican amphibians
Link

-----
Heather

Sorry, I'm way off.... I looked up the Coqui again and it doesn't match. Sorry about that! The markings on the ones I was refering to in you photos look SO familiar, but I can not find the image I'm looking for.
-----
Heather