Amphibians of Costa Rica: A Field Guide

Twan Leenders

Published by Cornell University Press 2016

Amphibians of Costa Rica

A Field Guide

Twan Leenders

In the series Zona Tropical Publications

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501706165

Overview
Contents

About this book

Amphibians of Costa Rica is the first in-depth field guide to all 206 species of amphibians known to occur in Costa Rica or within walking distance of its borders. A diminutive nation with abundant natural wealth, the country is host to 146 species of frogs and toads. Frogs of gemlike beauty and dizzying variety abound: some species can fit on the end of a human finger; others would take two hands to hold. In the rainforests, you can find frogs capable of gliding from high in the treetops to the forest floor, some that carry their eggs or their tadpoles around on their back, and others that secrete glue-like substances from their skin that are capable of sticking shut the mouth of attacking snakes.

Costa Rica is also home to fifty-three species of lungless salamanders, whose unique adaptations and abilities have allowed them to colonize habitats inaccessible to other amphibians. In addition to the spectacularly diverse salamanders, frogs, and toads found in the country, this guide includes the caecilians—bizarre and highly specialized creatures that somewhat resemble giant worms.

Author, photographer, and conservation biologist Twan Leenders has been studying the herpetofauna of Central America for more than twenty years. Leenders and his team of researchers have traipsed the rainforests, dry forests, and swamps of Costa Rica—toting portable photo studios—to put together the richest collection of photographs of Costa Rican herpetofauna known to exist. In addition to hundreds of photographs, range maps, morphological illustrations, and precise descriptions of key field characteristics, Amphibians of Costa Rica offers a wealth of natural history information, describing prey and predators, breeding strategies, habitat, and conservation status.

Author / Editor information

Twan Leenders is President of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, New York. He is coauthor of The Wildlife of Costa Rica: A Field Guide, also from Cornell, and author of A Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Foreword Robin Moore Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	viii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Caecilians (Order Gymnophiona)
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
Family Caeciliidae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
Family Dermophiidae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
Salamanders (Order Caudata)
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
Family Plethodontidae (Lungless Salamanders)
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
Genus Bolitoglossa – Webfoot Salamanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Genus Nototriton – Moss Salamanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
Genus Oedipina – Worm Salamanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
Genus Oedipina Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
Frogs and Toads (Order Anura)
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
Family Bufonidae (Toads) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
Family Centrolenidae (Glass Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Family Craugastoridae (Litter Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	226
Family Dendrobatidae (Poison Dart Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
Family Eleutherodactylidae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	314
Family Hemiphractidae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
Family Hylidae (Tree Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	337
Family Leptodactylidae (Foam-nest Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	449
Family Microhylidae (Narrow-mouthed Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	465
Family Ranidae (True Frogs) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	474
Family Rhinophrynidae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	486
Family Strabomantidae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	489
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	513
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	517
Photo Credits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	525
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	527

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Pages
- Main content: 512
Keywords: Natural history; nature photography; Central American herpetofauna; zoology

eBook

Published: July 15, 2016
ISBN: 9781501706165