TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:  Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Mantellidae

Genus/species: Mantella viridis

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: The back and sides are yellow-green; ventral parts are black with blue spots. The toes are not webbed. A light stripe runs along the upper lip. M. viridis is one of the biggest of the Madagascar mantella frogs; max length: 3.5 cm (1.37 inches).

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DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: Endemic to Madagascar. Inhabits deciduous forests. Usually found around temporary streams. Also lives in degraded mango plantations.

DIET IN THE WILD: Diurnal predators, eating mainly insects, ants, and termites. May also eat fruit that has fallen to the ground.

REPRODUCTION: Between 15 and 60 greenish-yellow eggs are laid in cavities under rocks and in the trunks of dead trees. They hatch into tadpoles during heavy rainfall, which washes them into small pools of water (

CONSERVATION: IUCN Red List Endangered (EN)
The main threat is habitat loss, due to the impacts of fires, logging and livestock grazing. It is also affected by the drying out of smaller streams following forest loss. It has been recorded in the pet trade in relatively large numbers, although this is now greatly reduced.

REMARKS: Many species of tropical frogs sequester toxins in their skins. In most cases these toxins come from eating toxic arthropods such as ants. During the past 30 years, over 400
alkaloids of over 20 structural classes have been detected. The skin of Mantella viridis has been shown to contain such toxins.

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Rainforest Madagascar Exhibit MA10

References

ARKive  www.arkive.org/green-mantella/mantella-viridis/

IUCN Red List: www.iucnredlist.org/details/57451/0

flickr  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157608456457315/with/3708490144/

WordPress Shortlink  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-Na