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Costa Rica Frog Blog

Updated: Jan 24, 2023

*Disclaimer* Both Frogs and Toads will be featured here, but "Frog Blog" has a much better ring to it!

Before going out to Costa Rica, myself and the rest of the team (throwback to Malaysia 2016 and the first power rangers trip) once again spent our nights researching various destinations deciding where best to find the wildlife we had in mind. We scoured information on the entire country, reading previous trip reports, weather reports, reptile forums and so much more. Now, I am a novice when it comes to identifying amphibians, but I have given it my best shot. However, If there are any frogs or toads that are currently unidentified or misidentified, have been re-classified into other taxonomic groups etc please feel free to contact me, this way I can rectify the information!


Costa Rica is full to the brim with amazing wildlife, There are literally hundreds if not thousands of different species. Around each and every corner is another bird, mammal, amphibian, fish or reptile. In fact there are a total of 194 species of amphibian in Costa Rica alone, so, we were very hopeful that we would find a large assortment. Most nights we managed to find a decent amount of frogs or toads, especially as most frog species here love the rain!

We visited in May, the shoulder season for Costa Rica. The days were light from 5am - 6pm and most had some form of precipitation, although it was dry enough to walk around without getting completely soaked through to the bone.

My personal favourites include the Centrolenidae family (the glass frogs) and the Hylidae family (tree frogs). Although many people go to South and Central America looking for the colourful Poison dart frogs. Our first location was the South East of Costa Rica, along the Caribbean Coast. Here we saw a large amount of Dendrobates Auratus (Green and black poison dart frogs) hopping around the grounds at our first accommodation. More information on locations and accommodation can be found in the "Curious creatures of Costa Rica" blog, where I go into slightly more detail.


The first night, we saw our very first tree frog, believed to be Agalychnis spurrelli (Flying leaf/tree frog). During the day we visited a rehabilitation centre for injured and orphaned wildlife, where we found a few Agalychnis callidryas (Red-eyed tree frogs) asleep on the underside of the leaves surrounding the Caiman pond. The area was also home to Oophaga pumilio (Strawberry Poison dart frogs) This locality are completely red, whereas in other parts of the country they have the iconic blue "jeans". There were also a large number of Leptodactylus pentadactylus (Smokey Jungle Frogs) and Rhinella marina (Cane Toads), both of which can be found in very large quantities around the entire country!


Fortunately in Costa Rica, Cane toads have more predators than in Australia (where they had been introduced to control beetle populations). The introduction of Cane toads has decimated many Australian Species. The toads bred rapidly and will often kill other animals when ingested. This happens during every life stage, not just as adults, there are reports of tadpoles killing off aquatic predators, fish, reptiles and mammals! It is the largest amphibian in Central America, found in habitats that have been highly disturbed by humans, unlike many other species of amphibian.


We spent a few days around the Limon/Cahuita area in search of various different animals before travelling North to reach our next destination, Tortuguero. Here we were surprised with a diverse array of wildlife, including mammals and reptiles.

We dropped off our luggage at the accommodation and headed for our first guided night walk. Luckily our guide (although reasonably new) was fantastic at showing us some of the best spots for wildlife. And with the assistance of 5 very attentive sets of eyes, we started spotting animals straight away. By the end of the night our guide had asked us to join him on another tour the next day, as he had "Never seen so many animals in one night in his entire life!" (His words, not ours). He even tried to bribe us onto a turtle watching tour with some other tourists, because he thought we brought good luck...


Our night walk included a few more Red-eyed tree frogs, but sadly not too many other amphibians. In Tortuguero, the night walks take part in and around the local shops, restaurants and hotels, rather than inside the national park itself. This meant that we had to pass through a lot of disturbed habitat, which would have influenced the number and variety of species that we could potentially spot. From Tortuguero we travelled West, into the colder mountain range of Monte Verde, very little time was spent here, but none the less managed to see some amazing species.


From Monte Verde, we travelled West again into the 40° blistering heat of Guanacaste. Although the weather reached these unbearably hot temperatures, during the midst of the day, we still got a fair amount of rain. This meant that as soon as it got dark enough to go for a night drive, the frogs and toads had appeared in full force. We stayed in Liberia and travelled out each and every night to the surrounding national parks, Santa Rosa and Palo Verde, cruising around many roads in search of our amphibian friends.


We found an amazing variety of amphibians. First on the list was a Hypopachus variolosus (A Mexican narrow-mouthed toad) also known as a Sheep Frog. They get their name from the distinctive calls they use to communicate, which sound similar to that of a bleating sheep.

Driving ourselves, rather than joining a guided tour gave us much more freedom to choose the areas that we wanted to visit and the amount of time we could set aside in each place. But it also means being responsible with your driving. We daren't risk hitting anything whether it be a frog or a leaf, just encase! Scattered every meter, along the centre of the road were Rhinella granulosa (Formerly Bufo) The Common Lesser Toad. As you can tell by the name, they really were particularly common.


That night, we could hear the sounds of hundreds of frogs and toads. One noise in particular really stood out from the rest, sounding like that of a Motorbike revving its engine. After heading home that night, and doing some background research, we found out that the call belonged to Rhinophrynus dorsalis (The Mexican Burrowing Toad).

This species is technically neither a frog nor a toad, it is the only species in the Genus Rhinophrynus.

From Guanacaste we made our way slowly towards our last stop; La Selva, before reaching the biological station. We split the stopped for the night in Arenal to beak up the driving. With majestic views of the volcano, cooler temperatures and lots of rain, this was the perfect spot to see some new species.



Our main error here was not photographing everything with as much attention to detail as we could have. For example; we found (and heard) many Dendropsophus ebraccatus (Hourglass frogs), which on first glance looked very similar to other species. Unfortunately we overlook a few and it was only when looking at the close-ups we realised there were multiple species. One being the beautiful dendropsophus microcephalus (Small-headed yellow tree frog). This area was also swimming with Smilisca phaeota (Masked Tree frogs). Each and everyone contained a collaboration of darker bodies, light legs and bright green cheeks. We also found Smilisca sordida (Drab tree frogs) which weren't quite as colourful but very similar in appearance.


There are over 100 species of Glass frog in South and Central America, with around 13 inhabiting Costa Rica. They can be found throughout the country in different types of pre-montane moist and wet tropical forests. Although they are often found near rapid streams, they will not come out during periods of heavy rainfall, as they are a very small, fragile species and are easily knocked off leaves or washed away. Their semi-translucent skin is almost magical in appearance. It helps them to blend in perfectly with their surroundings, making them relatively easy to overlook. We were lucky enough to stumble on this beautiful, yet tiny Teratohyla spinosa (Spiny Glass frog). My favourite of the trip!


Our search did not end here, La Selva threw at us, all we could have asked for, with its amphibians. Although we were not lucky enough this time around to find any lungless salamanders (I'm sure we'll be back for those at another time!). We did find a wonderful selection, including the Blue "jeans" Oophaga pumilio (Strawberry Poison Dart Frog).


We Also Found: 

Craugastor fitzingeri (Fitzingers Robber Frogs) Dendropsophus phlebodes (Veined Tree Trog) Craugastor megacephalus (Broad-headed Rain Frog) Hypopachus pictiventris (Southern Narrow-mouthed Toad) Hypsiboas rufitelus (Canal Zone Tree Frog) Pristimantis cruentus (Chiriqui robber frog) Rhaebo haematiticus (Leaf Litter Toad)


And some other unidentified species... you can see all of the photos in the Costa Rica Showcase


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