Costa Rica: Red-eyed Tree Frogs
Red-eyed Tree Frog, aka Agalychnis callidryas in Latin, is one of the most emblematic and iconic animals in Costa Rica, often featured in art and promotional tourist brochures about the country. Everything about this frog is unusual and unique, starting with large red eyes with vertical pupils, and down to the vibrant green body with yellow and blue vertical stripes along the sides, and finally ultra bright red and orange sticky feet. They live in tropical rainforest and require humidity levels of over 80% to survive. The frogs are completely nocturnal and that’s when they show all their bright colors; while during the day they are completely hidden under leafs and tuck in all their color, appearing uniformly green and blending with foliage. The color is all about mating, where colorful smaller males find equally colorful larger females, who then carry the former on the backs for several hours during copulation.
