Frogs of Panama

The Frogs of Panama exhibit contains the offspring of frogs rescued from an outbreak of the deadly amphibian Chytrid fungus in the highlands of central Panama in 2005. It contains three species, each of which has adaptations to protect their eggs and young. The Crowned Tree Frog (Anotheca spinosa) breeds in treeholes where the mother remains with the tadpoles for months, feeding them unfertilized eggs. The Green Spiny Toad (Incilius coniferus) is useful for research at the Garden and elsewhere because of their tendency to lay hundreds of eggs in one day, allowing scientists to set up meaningful comparisons between groups of individuals with the same age and parents. Pratt’s Rocket Frog (Colostethus pratti) lays its eggs in the leaf litter and carries the tadpoles on their backs when they are ready to move to streams.