The Big-eyed Tree Frog, or Peacock Tree Frog (Leptopelis vermiculatus) is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 found in forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

 areas in the Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n country of Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

. In some literature it is referred to as the Amani Forest Tree Frog.

Physical description

This species is a medium to large frog ranging from 40-85 mm in length. It has two very different colour phases. In one phase they are a bright green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

 with scattered black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

 specks all over the dorsal

Dorsum (biology)

In anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run, fly, or swim in a horizontal position, and the back side of animals that walk upright. In vertebrates the dorsum contains the backbone. The term dorsal refers to anatomical structures that are either situated toward or grow...

 surface and the sides are marble with black and white

White

White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

. With some specimens the end of the tibia

Tibia

The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....

 to the toes, forearms and upper lip have white blotching outlined with dark green or black. In the other phase they are brown

Brown

Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....

 with an irregular shaped, darker brown triangular patch on the dorsum. Randomly placed darker or lighter brown spots and patches may appear over the dorsal surface, legs and forearms and a dark brown streak often runs from behind the tympanum

Tympanum (zoology)

The tympanum is an external hearing structure in animals such as frogs, toads, insects, and mammals, to name a few.-Anurans:In frogs and toads, it is located just behind the eye. It does not actually process sound waves; it simply transmits them to the amphibian's inner ear, which is protected...

 ending halfway between the armpit and groin

Groin

In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...

. In both phases the ventral surface is cream-white. Some specimens show a transition between both phases and change from the green phase to the brown phase as they mature. The eye

Eye

Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement...

s are very big compared with body size and are golden with brown lines and flecks. It has large toe pads that are used for climbing. The tympanum is distinct.

Ecology and behaviour

This species inhabits the closed-canopy wet tropical rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s of Tanzania between the altitudes of 900 and 1800 m. Males call while in the water, and are very territorial. They have two different calls: one is a “ga…ga…ga”, used for attracting females, and the other is a “rrrrrrrr-ga” used for deterring other males of the same species. They are insectivorous

Insectivore

An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....

.

Similar species

This species is very similar to the Yellow-spotted Tree Frog (Leptopelis flavomaculatus), a species that also varies greatly in dorsal patterning and colouration. The Yellow-spotted Tree Frog, in its green phase, lacks the fine black specks that are present over the dorsum in the Big-eyed Tree Frogs green phase. The brown phase of the Yellow-spotted Tree Frog has a white blotch on the elbow, which brown phase Big-eyed Tree Frog lack.