Recently when walking along a trail near a river, I was stopped in my tracks by a beautiful leopard frog! There are dozens of these frogs that nerve-wrackingly leap across the path but I immediately knew that this one was special. (You can enlarge the photo by clicking on it).
After doing some research, I discovered that there are various species of frogs which can have blue colored skin. They are called "axanthic" and this frog is "partially axanthic". Frog skin has two pigments, yellow and blue, which make the green color normally seen. In axanthic frogs the yellow is missing revealing the blue. Interestingly, in this animal, the pigmentation is not uniform so only blue patches appear.
My first thought when seeing him was that he looked like a Fabergé frog or a Cloisonné frog ornament. If you Google these things you will see the resemblance.
For comparison, here is a photo of a more normally colored Northern Leopard Frog.
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Such a keen and discerning eye.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anvilcloud!
DeleteWow! Great catch.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much messymimi!
DeleteFascinating, and wonderful pictures. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words Flighty!
DeleteWonderful find, Doris! And thanks for the explanation. These types of frogs are not seen in the Pacific NW.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary. I'm glad you found it interesting. :-)
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