Animalia | Chordata | Vertebrata | Amphibia | Anura | Hylidae | Agalychnis | Agalychnis spurrelli |
Taxonomic notes: More than one species may currently be included within Agalychnis spurrelli (Federico Bolaños pers. comm.).
This species ranges widely in the humid lowlands and lower portions of the premontane zone of southeastern and southwestern Costa Rica, through Panama and the Pacific lowlands of Colombia to northwestern Ecuador. Its altitudinal range is 15-750m.
It is a nocturnal canopy species of undisturbed humid lowland forest. Explosive breeding takes place in temporary rain pools without fish following, or during, heavy rains. Eggs are deposited on the upper-surfaces of leaves, 1.5-8m above the water. Hatching tadpoles fall into the water below.
The major threats are deforestation for agricultural development, illegal crops, logging, and human settlement, and pollution resulting from the spraying of illegal crops. The known localities in Ecuador are facing considerable human pressure. Museum specimens of this species have been found to be infected with chytridiomycosis, but the current impact of this pathogen on the species in the wild is not known.
It has been recorded from a number of protected areas, including at least three in Panama and three in Costa Rica. In Ecuador, its geographic range overlaps with Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi-Cayapas, but it is not confirmed from any protected areas in Colombia.
It is listed on CITES Appendix II.
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
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