SUMMARY

• PREVALENCE: Uncommon

• ACTIVE PERIOD: Active at night

• KEY ID FEATURES: Small triangular body, often with light vertebral stripe running from snout to vent, less tubercles than Butler’s Pigmy Frog

• SIZE: ~3cm

• IUCN: LC - Least Concern

GALLERY

IMPORTANT: Many frogs have significant variance in coloration and pattern even within the same species. There can also be extreme differences in appearance from juveniles to adults and some species appear very similar in maturity.

DESCRIPTION

They have triangular bodies with wide bellies and short pointed snouts. Ornate pigmy frogs have a large irregular dark brown marking on the dorsum, often with a thin light colored line running from the head down the vertebra and terminating near the cloaca.

The venter is light yellow on the chest and belly. The chin is dark brown, and the hindlimbs are slightly opaque with yellow coloration and yellow granules around the cloaca.

It has four digits on the forelimbs with no webbing present. Hindlimbs have five digits and small toe pads. Digits on the hind limbs have reduced webbing.

HABITAT

They prefer small streams, ponds and marshy or wetland habitat.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

CAUTION SHOULD TAKEN WHEN INTERACTING WITH AMPHIBIANS: The ornate pigmy frog can be confused with both the Butler’s pigmy frog and the marbled pigmy frog. The key differentiator with the Butler’s pigmy frog are the large more dense, often red tubercles on the Butler’s, whereas the ornate has very few small tubercles that may or may not be red in color with smooth skin. The ornate pigmy frog may also have a thin light colored vertebral stripe which is not known to occur on either the Butler’s or marbled pigmy frogs. The marbled pigmy frog is most easily differentiated from the ornate pigmy frog by its bright yellow flank and inner thigh. The marbled pigmy frogs body pattern is also much more obvious consisting of many swirls and wavy lines. The marbled pigmy frog also tends to have much higher contrast body patterns than the ornate pigmy frog, though occasionally both are highly contrasting.