EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Reed Frog of the Rainforest

Rainforest Reed Frog (Hyperolius tuberculatus), Family Hyperoliidae
Monkoto, Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Explanation:   Found throughout central tropical Africa is this Rainforest Reed Frog ... that is both misnamed and correctly named.  I'll explain.

We are in the center of the village of Monkoto, central to the north and south segments of Salonga National Park, in the central Congo River Basin, of the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa.  Many centers here!  But I digress.

This species of reed frog most often occurs in forest openings, secondary forests, and degraded forest conditions, but typically not in dense primary "rainforest" as its name suggests.  Thus, the misnomer of its name: Rainforest Reed Frog.

But where I found this specimen was indeed among the reeds of a disturbed wet site in the village:
  

And this is the third species of reed frog of genus Hyperolius that I encountered in this region, along with the striking Cinnamon-bellied Reed Frog and the flashy Ngoto Reed Frog.