FROGS & TOADS :: This gallery features Costa Rican animals photographed in the wild and under controlled conditions in four locations: Rainmaker Rainforest Reserve, near Quepos and Manuel Antonio; Fincas Naturales Wildlife Refuge, Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica; Monteverde; and Selvadura Park. This collection includes four glass frogs (Ranita de Cristal or Ranita de Vidrio, Family Centrolenidae), one showing eggs through her transparent belly skin and a male watching over its mate’s egg mass, nest guarding, a form of parental care: dusty glass frog, Cochranella pulverata; yellow-flecked glass frog, Cochranella albomaculata; Ilex glass frog (ghost glass frog), Centrolene ilex; Valerio’s glassfrog (reticulated glass frog), Hyalinobatrachium valerio. Treefrogs (Hylidae) and leaf frogs (Phyllomedusine hylids) photographed: masked Smilisca treefrog, Smilisca phaeota; red-eyed treefrog / leaf frog (Rana Calzonuda de Ojos Rojos), Agalychnis callidryas; gliding treefrog (Spurell’s flying frog), Agalychnis spurrelli (Phyllomedusa spurrelli); splendid leaf frog (tiger treefrog, bar-flanked leaf frog), Agalychnis / Phyllomedusa calcarifer (Cruziohyla calcarifer); Lancaster’s treefrog (metallic frog), Hyla lancasteri (Isthmohyla lancasteri); brook frog, Duellmanohyla rufioculis (Hyla rufioculus). Within the poison arrow frog family Dendrobatidae, I photographed the blue jeans dart-frog (strawberry poison-dart frog), Dendrobates pumilio (Oophaga pumilio) and the black and green poison-dart frog (green poison frog), Dendrobates auratus. Both species exhibit warning / aposematic coloration. The only toad represented in this gallery is the green climbing toad, Rinella coniferus (formerly Bufo coniferus). Many of these amphibians are threatened or endangered species and some are endemic to Costa Rica.

REPTILES: Two non-venomous lizards, the Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) and a sleeping anole (Anolis sp.); one non-venomous snake, a Black-tailed Cribo, Drymarchon melanurus; and three species of pit vipers were photographed. Of the venomous snakes, the Bushmaster (Lachesis muta) is the largest and the Fer-de-Lance (Bothrops asper) is the most dangerous to humans. This gallery features three color morphs (pink, yellow, and green) of the arboreal Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) from the Valle de la Estrella of the Caribbean lowands of Costa Rica.

BIRDS :: Costa Rica showcases 54 species of hummingbirds, 6 of which I photographed in Monteverde: purple-throated mountain-gem, Lampornis calolaemus; violet sabrewing, Campylopterus hemileucurus; green-crowned brilliant, Heliodoxa jacula; green violet-ear, Colibri thalassinus; magenta-throated woodstar, Calliphlox bryantae; and the coppery-headed emerald hummingbird, Elvira cupreiceps. Other birds represented in this gallery are the chestnut-mandibled toucan, Ramphastos swainsonii; collared aracari, Pteroglossus torquatus; blue-throated toucanet, Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis; emerald toucanet, Aulacorhynchus prasinus caeruleogularis; yellow-throated Euphonia (Bonaparte’s Euphonia), Euphonia hirundinacea; crested guan, Penelope purpurascens; green honeycreeper, Chlorophanes spiza; prong-billed barbet, Semnornis frantzii; white-crowned parrot (a.k.a. white-crowned Pionus, red-lored Amazon, red-lored parrot), Pionus senilis; yellow-cheeked Amazon parrot, Amazona autumnalis; great kiskadee flycatcher, Pitangus sulphuratus; and a bananaquit, Coereba flaveola, “hovering” at a hummingbird feeder (who ever said that banaquits must perch while feeding!)

MAMMALS :: Three mammals are also featured here, among them the common marmoset (cotton-eared marmoset), Callithrix jacchus, a small monkey from Brazil photographed in captivity at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Native mammals in this collection include a spotted cat, the margay (a.k.a. tiger cat, tigrillo), Leopardus wiedii; and Geoffroy’s spider monkey (Black-handed Spider Monkey), Ateles geoffroyi, nicely exhibited at Zoo Ave Wildlife Conservation Park, Costa Rica.