The glass frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae, native to the Central American Rainforests. The general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent and translucent, giving the glass frog its common name. The internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and gastrointestinal tract, are visible through the skin. When active their blood makes them visible; when sleeping most of the blood is concealed in the liver, hiding them. Glass frogs are arboreal, living mainly in trees, feeding on small insects and only coming out for mating season. Their transparency conceals them very effectively when sleeping on a green leaf, as they habitually do. However, climate change and habitat frangmentation has been threatening the survival rates of the family.
Centrolene is a genus of glass frogs in the family Centrolenidae. The adult males are characterized by having a humeral spine, as most members of this family. The delimitation of this genus versus Cochranella is not fully resolved, and some species formerly in Centrolenella — which is nowadays synonymized with Centrolene — are now in Hyalinobatrachium.
Cochranella is a genus of glass frogs, family Centrolenidae. They are found in Central America from Honduras southward to the Amazonian and Andean cloud forests of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Hyalinobatrachium is a genus of glass frogs, family Centrolenidae. They are widely distributed in the Americas, from tropical Mexico to southeastern Brazil and Argentina.
Chimerella mariaelenae is a species of glassfrog that inhabits on the Andean slopes of eastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru, possibly also in the adjacent Colombia. The species was described as new to science by Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia and Roy Wallace McDiarmid.
Cochranella litoralis is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is known from the Pacific lowlands of southwestern Colombia and northern Ecuador. The specific name litoralis refers to the proximity of the type locality to the sea.
"Centrolene" medemi is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. The species occurs in the Cordillera Oriental in the Tolima, Caquetá, and Putumayo Departments in Colombia and adjacent Napo in Ecuador. The generic placement of this species within the subfamily Centroleninae is uncertain. The specific name medemi honors Fred Medem, collector of the holotype. Common name Medem giant glass frog has been coined for it.
Cochranella resplendens is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in the upper Amazon Basin in southwestern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, northern Peru, and Bolivia. There are also isolated records from the Cordillera Central in Antioquia, Colombia, and Amapá in northern Brazil. The specific name resplendens is derived from the Latin verb resplendo and hints to the jewel-like appearance of this frog. It is sometimes known as the resplendent Cochran frog or resplendent glassfrog.
Vitreorana ritae is a species of frog in the glass frog family (Centrolenidae). It is found in Amazonian Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and in southern Guyana, eastern Suriname, and French Guiana. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Hyalinobatrachium aureoguttatum, also known as the Atrato Glass Frog and Sun Glassfrog, is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in northern Ecuador, Pacific lowlands and western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental in Colombia, and eastern Panama. It occurs from near sea level to 1,560 m (5,120 ft) asl.
Hyalinobatrachium chirripoi is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in extreme northern Ecuador, northwestern Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica, as well as in Honduras. The specific name chirripoi refers to the Chirripó Indians inhabiting the area of the type locality, Suretka in the Talamanca canton of Costa Rica. The common name Suretka glass frog has been coined for it.
Hyalinobatrachium munozorum, also known as Upper Amazon glass frog, is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in the upper Amazon Basin in Ecuador, Colombia, and northern Bolivia; it is presumably to be found in intervening Peru; earlier records from Peru have been assigned to Hyalinobatrachium carlesvilai.
Hyalinobatrachium pellucidum, also known as the Rio Azuela glass frog, is a species of frog in the family Centrolenidae. It is found in lower montane rainforests on the Amazonian Andean slopes in Ecuador and Peru. The specific name pellucidum is Latin for "transparent" and refers to the transparent parietal peritoneum of this species.
The powdered glass frog or Chiriqui glass frog is a frog species in the glass frog family (Centrolenidae). The species is found from north-central Honduras south to northwestern Ecuador.
Nymphargus is a genus of glass frogs in the subfamily Centroleninae, which was established in 2007. They are distributed in the Andean slopes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. They are characterized by lacking webbing among the outer fingers, lacking humeral spines in adult males, and having a lobed liver covered by a transparent hepatic peritoneum. They can be more specifically characterized as having a head that is darker green than the body, there being yellow spots surrounded by black on head and body, upper eyelids are dark lavender. The conservation status of the Nymphargus frogs was largely believed to be critically endangered due to the minimal research done on this genus. Once the scope of the research was broadened the conservation status was able to be determined as being vulnerable. More frogs of different variations were found increasing the genus’ population.
Noblella is a genus of frogs in the family Strabomantidae. They are found on the eastern slopes of the Andes and in the Amazon Basin in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil. The name refers to Gladwyn K. Noble, who described the first species.
Espadarana is a genus of glass frogs. They are found in Central America and northern South America.
Rulyrana is a small genus of glass frogs. They are found in South America, on the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Bolivia, as well as on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central and the western slopes of the Cordillera Oriental in Colombia.
Juan Manuel Guayasamin is an Ecuadorian biologist. He earned his Ph.D. in 2007 from University of Kansas, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and as of 2017 he is working as professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. His research interests include the evolution of glass frogs (Centrolenidae) and direct-developing anurans. His main contributions have been: phylogenetic taxonomy of glassfrogs, description of the variation of skin texture in frogs, description of numerous species of amphibians and reptiles, and a monographic review of all Ecuadorian glassfrogs. A team led by Juan M. Guayasamin discovered Hyalinobatrachium yaku in May 2017, a glassfrog with transparent venter. To date (2020), he has described a total of 6 amphibian genera, 55 species of amphibians, and 11 reptiles, including two geckos from the Galápagos Islands.
Hyalinobatrachium nouns, also known as Nouns' glassfrog, is a species of glass frog in the family Centrolenidae, distributed in western Ecuador.
