Phyllomedusa sauvagii
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[Photo] Waxy Monkey Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa sauvagii). Description: Phyllomedusa sauvagii, de: Warziger Makifrosch im Zoo Frankfurt. Camera: Aufgenommen mit einer Canon EOS 300D. Photograph/Source: Petra Karstedt/ www.Tiermotive.de

Phyllomedusa sauvagii, commonly known as the Waxy Monkey Leaf Frog, is a hylid frog belonging to the subfamily of South and Central American leaf frogs, Phyllomedusinae that inhabits the Chaco (dry prairie) of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. The subfamily consists of around 50 species in three well known genera, Phyllomedusa, Agalychnis and Pachymedusa. The vast majority of known species, including Phyllomedusa sauvagei, belong to the Phyllomedusa genus.

Phyllomedusa sauvagii has adapted to meet the demands of life in the trees. It does not need to return to the ground during the mating season, rather it lays its eggs down the middle of a leaf before folding the leaf, sandwiching the eggs inside. Its nest is attached to a branch suspended over a stream so that hatching tadpoles drop into the water. In common with other phyllomedusines, it presents physiological and behavioural adaptations to limit water loss including impermeabilisation of the skin by lipid secretions, excretion of uric acid (uricotelism) and diurnal torpor. Lipid secretions are produced in a special type of cutaneous gland and are spread over the surface of the skin by the legs in a complex sequence of wiping movements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllomedusa_sauvagii

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