They are small and medium-sized frogs with maximum snout–vent lengths that range from 2 to 7.5 cm (0.8 to 3.0 in). Their skin can be smooth or it can have warts or bumps on it.[3] Some of the species look very different from each other, but most have good camouflage: Their colors make them look like plants or bird droppings so that animals that want to eat them cannot see them.[3][4]
Scientists do not know much about what these frogs do, but they eat small animals without bones, for example insects. Scientists have seen some of these species lay eggs in small pools of water in holes in trees, in bamboo, or in karst rocks.[1][3][4] The female lays 4–20 eggs just above the water. After about one to two weeks they hatch into tadpoles that fall into the water. They become small frogs after a few months or a year.[1][3]
Species and taxonomy
T. corticale (above) resembles moss and T. moloch (below) resembles bark or a bird dropping
Theloderma khoii Ninh, Nguyen, Nguyen, Hoang, Siliyavong, Nguyen, Le, Le & Ziegler, 2022
References
↑ 1.01.11.21.3Lott, D. (2017). "Keeping and breeding mossy frogs". Practical Reptile Keeping. July 2017: 38–45.
↑ 2.02.12.22.3Frost, Darrel R. (2016). "Theloderma Tschudi, 1838". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
↑ 3.03.13.23.33.4Poyarkov, Jr., N.A.; N.L. Orlov; A.V. Moiseeva; P. Pawangkhanant; T. Ruangsuwan; A.B. Vassilieva; E.A. Galoyan; T.T Nguyen; S.S. Gogolev (2015). "Sorting out moss frogs: mtDNA data on taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of the Indochinese species of the genus Theloderma (Anura, Rhacophoridae)". Russian Journal of Herpetology. 22 (4): 241–280.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ 4.04.1Sivongxay, N.; M. Davankham; S. Phimmachak; K. Phoumixay; B.L. Stuart (2016). "A new small-sized Theloderma (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from Laos". Zootaxa. 4147 (4): 433–442. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4147.4.5. PMID27515627.
↑"Rhacophoridae". AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.