Grey Foam-nest Treefrog

About the Grey Foam-nest Treefrog

The grey foam-nest tree frog (Chiromantis xerampelina), or southern foam-nest tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. They are found in southern Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, intermittent freshwater marshes, arable land, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forests, ponds, and canals and ditches.

Grey foam-nest tree frogs are known for simultaneous polyandry, where female frogs have multiple mates on separate territories that guard the eggs and care for young. This behavior is owed to their external fertilization mechanism. During the mating process, the female frog produces a foam nest, typically on branches that hang above bodies of water, in order to keep her eggs moist as they develop. This practice is what gives the grey foam-nest tree frogs their name.

Grey foam-nest tree frogs are arboreal. Like other species in the genus Chiromantis, they have discs on their toes, and their outer two fingers are widely spaced and nearly at a right angle... Wikipedia →