Large four-eyed frog

Pleurodema bufoninum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Leptodactylidae
Genus: Pleurodema
Species: P. bufoninum
Binomial name
Pleurodema bufoninum
Bell, 1843
Synonyms

Pleurodema bufonina

The large four-eyed frog or sapo de cuatro ojos grandes (Pleurodema bufoninum) is a species of frog in the Leptodactylidae family. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Its natural habitats are subantarctic forests, temperate forests, subantarctic shrubland, temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subantarctic grassland, temperate grassland, intermittent rivers, swamps, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, rural gardens, ponds, and open excavations. The common name "four-eyed frog"[1] refers to two inguinal poison glands that resemble eyes.[2] When threatened, the frog lowers its head and raises its rear. When the frog adopts this posture the poison glands are also raised toward the predator. The predator may also confuse the frog's raised posterior for the head of a larger animal.[3]

References

  1. Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Pleurodema Tschudi, 1838". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  2. "Species profile: four-eyed frog". Conservacion Patagonic. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  3. Duellman, William E. (1994). Biology of Amphibians. Baltimore: JHU Press. p. 670. ISBN 9780801847806.
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