Agile frog

Description

Agile frogs are slender, long-limbed frogs with a pointed snout. The snout-vent length of males rarely exceeds 6.5 cm, that of females up to 9 cm. The upperparts are light brown, reddish brown or light greyish brown ("falllaubfarben") and comparatively poor in markings and contrast. The triangular temple patches with the tympanic membrane, typical for brown frogs, are dark brown. The underparts are whitish and usually completely unspotted. During the mating season, males in the water are often dark brown in colour. Dark transverse bands appear on the thighs and lower limbs, but these are not the only characteristic of the species. The hind limbs are remarkably long, which is why the animals are very agile: they can leap one to two metres. The pupils are horizontal; the iris is lighter golden in the upper third (above the pupil) than laterally and below the pupil. The tympanic membrane reaches about the size of the diameter of the eye and is located very close behind each eye. The glandular ridges on the back are not very pronounced and are interrupted in parts.

Habitat

The agile frog prefers light and water-rich mixed deciduous forests. It also inhabits the surrounding open countryside as long as it is connected to the forest by rows of shrubs. Forest pools, ponds, small ponds and ditches serve as spawning grounds. Fish-free waters with sunny shallow shore zones are ideal. The species often lives far away from water in rather dry-warm forests (coppice and middle forests). Of the three Central European brown frog species, it is the most heat-loving and the most drought-tolerant.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfrosch). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 29 June 2021