Phyllomedusa

Phyllomedusa 

a genus of tailless amphibians of the family Hylidae. The body measures 6 cm in length. The upper parts are usually green, and the sides and extremities are often red, orange, or purple. The snout is short, and the front paws are prehensile; the inner fingers and toes are opposable to the other digits. Unlike other tree toads, species of Phyllomedusa have weakly developed pads on the end of the digits.

The genus consists of 30 species, which are found in Central and South America. Adults live most of their lives in the tops of tall trees, where they hang on to thin branches and leaves by means of their digits. They do not live in the water, even during the reproductive season. They wrap their eggs in a wide leaf or place them between two or several leaves (which adhere to each other because of the sticky egg coverings), usually on trees growing by bodies of water. The young develop quickly; in three to six days the larvae have external gills, which atrophy by the time the tadpole hatches. The hatched tadpoles drop into the water, where they complete their development.

I. S. DAREVSKII