Rainforest reminiscences 8: Kermit? Kermit, is that you?

Everybody knows Kermit. You know, Kermit, the bug-eyed green frog who is Miss Piggy's paramour?

Well, take a look at the pix of the common polkadot treefrog, Hyla (Hypsiboas) punctatus, an Amazonian species, and see if you don't note a strong resemblance?

The Polkadot Treefrog is one of the most common of the many Amazonian anurans. It is also one of the most variable, undergoing routine day to night color changes. This little hylid is normally green by day with either yellow or red polkadots and red by night with at least vestiges of darker red dots. A thin red dorsolateral line is present on each side no matter the ground color.

Males are the smaller sex and are adult at about 1 and three-quarter inches. Occasional females may attain 2 and a half inches in length.

This treefrog may call by both day and night from the security of floating or emergent vegetation. Floating rafts of water hyacinths or water lettuce provide ideal habitat.

More photos under the jump...

The polkadot treefrog is at home in rafts of floating vegetation: Typically, the polkadot treefrog is red at night and green during the day:

Author, photographer, and columnist Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For a list of their current titles, please visit their page in our bookstore.