Red-eyed tree frog: its eyes can enter a special mode (9 photos)

She lives in the deep jungles of Central America, but her eyes are such a vibrant color that it becomes scary!





And this is the purpose of her creepy blinks! The tree frog itself is a small frog, no more than 8 centimeters.



All photographs with this frog look like drawings of neural networks. This amphibian is so strange!

The rain forests are full of hunters for whom the amphibian will be an easy snack. The animal does not pose any danger either. She has no poison, no thorns, no claws to scare away the enemy. Therefore, the animal decided to take the hunters out of fear.





If you look into a thicket for a long time, the thicket will begin to look into you.

So, imagine the situation: you are a red-eyed tree frog who decided to take a nap after a hearty dinner at night. You do this during the day. Having nestled in the shade of a leaf in advance, you hide all the bright parts of the body. The amphibian tucks its bright orange paws, and covers its bright red eyes with a translucent nictitating membrane.



You've been noticed!

Why is it translucent? So that the frog can notice the danger even with his eyes closed! As soon as a shadow falls on the tree frog, the amphibian wakes up. If a predator has approached and is already preparing to grab a defenseless frog, the hunter finds himself in a horror quest without even knowing it!



Hush, don't make noise! You don't want IT to wake up, do you?

The tree frog suddenly opens its red eyes and spreads its orange paws. You could get a heart attack from something like that in the thick of the forest! While the predator comes to his senses and writes a will, the frog manages to gallop off to another tree. Fortunately, legs with suction cups allow you to crawl along trunks, branches and leaves in any direction.



Frog Man to the rescue!

But where did the frog even get such eyes? Because he can't sleep at night? Partly. The tree frog's color is regulated by carotenoids—orange-red pigments. You and I get them from carrots, for example. Frogs also take it from food: crickets, midges and other arthropods of the jungle, which they hunt at night. So, partly the creepy red eyes are the result of late-night gatherings until the morning.



- Lekha, do you even get enough sleep? -Where do I sleep?

Carotenoids play a key role in the life of tree frogs - they influence the proper development, coloring, growth rate and fertility of females. By the way, about fertility. The rainy season in the rainforest is a time of love and fight for red-eyed tree frogs. The males sing their croaking songs in different voices, fight with each other, shake leaves with ladies and rivals - just so that She pays attention to them. The red-eyed, long-legged beauty is never in a hurry in choosing a partner. The female calls the candidate she likes to her.



The best chances are for males who were born in the same area as her. This can be understood by the pattern of the side stripes and the mating call - it is slightly different for each region.

After the fateful meeting has taken place, the gentleman climbs on top of the lady and she drags him along for several hours. No, these are not weird role-playing games. This is how a couple makes children. The female lays eggs on the leaves of trees located directly above the water. And the male immediately fertilizes the eggs.



Sanya, when I said that I wanted you to be on top, I didn’t mean it!

After about 10 days, all the tadpoles hatch together and flop into the pond. If the clutch begins to dry out ahead of time or is in danger, the babies can hatch as early as the 6th day.