TGIFF!! Thank Goodness It's FROG FRIDAY!! The Long-toed Tree Frog Leptopelis xenodactylus is found in the southern KwaZulu-Natal highlands, but also marginally in adjacent parts of the Eastern Cape Province. The photo shown here is the only photographic record in the FrogMAP database, submitted by Dominic Rollinson and James Harvey.

This beautiful frog is a large tree frog, reaching 50 mm in snout–vent length. It has a uniformly green dorsum and a creamy white belly. The Long-toed Tree Frog occurs in the Grassland Biome, mainly in high altitude Moist Upland Grassland that receives annual summer rainfall of 650–1000 mm. It also inhabits Short Mistbelt Grassland and North-eastern Mountain Grassland.

If you have any frog/toad photos please submit them to FrogMAP at vmus.adu.org.za – you too can be an ambassador for biodiversity!

For National Water Week we are featuring a very water dependant frog for FROG FRIDAY – The Cape Ghost Frog Heleophryne purcelli. The Cape Ghost Frog is endemic to certain mountain ranges in the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape, South Africa. Adult females may attain a body length of 56 mm and males 47 mm. It only occurs in undisturbed habitat within the Mountain Fynbos or Afromontane Forest vegetation types and is dependent on clear, fast flowing, perennial mountain streams for breeding. When they are not breeding, ghost frogs utilize damp terrestrial habitat surrounding the streams and have even been found sheltering under rocks several hundred metres away from the nearest watercourse. They are well adapted for climbing in steep, rocky terrain and enter rock crevices and caves. By means of the adhesive pads on their fingers and toes they are able to climb virtually any wet or damp surface, including smooth, vertical rock faces.