Phrynomedusa marginata is in the Hylidae family, its common name is the Bi-colored Leaf Frog.  There are five  species in the Phrynomedusa genus. They do have backbones, so they are under found in Chordata. They are leaf frogs they were discovered in 2004 by Carlos Alberto.

 

The range of the Bi-colored Leaf Frog is in southeastern Brazil. You can find them in Santa Teresa, which is in the state Espirito Santo. What kinds of habitats can you find them in? You can find them areas that are subtropical or tropical in moist lowland. Such as forests, rivers with fresh water.

 

P. marginata feeds mostly on moths and ants. They usually feed on arthropods that are smaller than they are. They also lay their eggs in the water. They reproduce sexually; they start off as tadpoles, which live in the rivers that are fresh.

 

The population at first was very high when Carlos Alberto discovered them. Now the population is decreasing by habitat loss, now the P. marginata is threatened. There are very few of the P. marginata left.

 

The P. marginata changes colors to protect it self-form predators and that is called camouflage.  They will blend into a leaf when anything tries to harm them. They are very small animals they are the size of a USB drive. They usually do not come out very often. The only reason they come out is to eat. 

 

Author: Marlena M

Published: 02/2010

 

Sources:

http://www.google.com

http://www.iucnredlist.org/

 

Photo Credit:

Hugo Claessen authorises the use of the pictures by him published on the website calphotos.berkeley.edu