Mindanao horned frog

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

Mindanao horned frog - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mindanao horned frog

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Megophryidae
Genus:	Pelobatrachus
Species:	P. stejnegeri
Binomial name
*Pelobatrachus stejnegeri* (Taylor, 1920)
Synonyms
Megophrys stejnegeri Taylor, 1920

The Mindanao horned frog (Pelobatrachus stejnegeri) is a species of amphibian in the family Megophryidae. It is endemic to the Philippines.^[2]

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, rivers, and intermittent rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Taxonomy

Formerly placed in the genus Megophrys, it was reclassified into the genus Pelobatrachus in 2021.^[3]

Habitat

The Mindanao horned frog is only found on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It is mostly found near a fresh water supply when it can lay its eggs or in dense underbrush, leaf litter, or other fallen object covering the ground.^[1] The climate of the ecoregion is tropical wet, with temperature and rainfall modified by the elevation, which reaches up to 2,700 meters. The vegetation in this area consists of hill dipterocarp forests, lower and upper montane forest, elfin woodland (mossy forest) and summit grasslands. The area also experiences rainy seasons and frequent monsoons. June–October is the areas monsoon/rainy season, while in December–May there are "trade winds" which bring little rainfall, making it harder for the frog to find suitably wet places to breed.

Diet

The Mindanao horned frog's diet is affected by its homeland in the forests of Mindanao. It will eat most of the insects found in Mindanao, it will also consume snails, spiders, worms, and occasionally frogs that are smaller than itself.^[4]

Threats

The Mindanao horned frog is currently listed as vulnerable on the endangered species scale because its distribution is rather fragmented; it covers an area of less than 20,000 km² and is continuously shrinking due to deforestation.^[1] The frog's major threat is presented by humans. The loss of the frogs habitat in the lowland forest, due to logging, is causing the frogs to compete for food, water and space. Also the pollution caused by the agricultural and mine-tailing of humans in the area is causing the mountain streams and rivers to become polluted leaving fewer places for frogs to produce and rear their young. There are many other animal species living on and around the island of Mindanao. There are over thirty-four bird species native to the area, of which more than half, such as the Mindanao scops owl, the Philippine eagle-owl, and the blue-capped kingfisher, prey on the Mindanao horned frog. In addition to the birds, other animals such as snakes and fish prey on the frog and its young, whilst pets, such as cats and dogs, also pose a threat.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Megophrys stejnegeri.

^ ^a ^b ^c IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Megophrys stejnegeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T57583A176636262. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T57583A176636262.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
^ Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Megophrys stejnegeri Taylor, 1920". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
^ "Pelobatrachus stejnegeri (Taylor, 1920) | Amphibian Species of the World". amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
^ Mindanao horned frog (Megophrys stejnegeri) Archived 2015-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. arkive.org

Taxon identifiers
Megophrys stejnegeri	Wikidata: Q2240645 Wikispecies: Pelobatrachus stejnegeri AmphibiaWeb: 6178 ARKive: megophrys-stejnegeri ASW: Megophrys-stejnegeri CoL: 3Z2CS EoL: 319987 GBIF: 2424672 iNaturalist: 24607 IRMNG: 10230774 ITIS: 664179 IUCN: 57583 NCBI: 1903876 Open Tree of Life: 3618014 WoRMS: 1397877

Categories:

Hidden categories: