Harlequin Tree Frog

This species is recognized to occur in Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines. In the Philippines, this species is widely distributed, and has been documented on the islands of the Luzon and Mindanao PAICs as well as the Romblon Island Group.

Mindanao and Luzon Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complexes (PAIC; Brown and Diesmos, 2002), as well as the Romblon Island Group.

Small to medium in size, with males reaching 39-55 mm and females 55-71 mm. Snout is rounded. Fingers III, IV, V are fully webbed and bear expanded discs. The outer edge of the hand and forearm have a wide flap of skin. Toes are fully webbed. The heel has a rounded flap of skin. Dorsum is smooth, venter is coarsely granular (Inger and Stuebing 2005). Males have nuptial pads (Harvey et al. 2002).Dorsum is tan to reddish brown, often with an X-shaped darker marking on the back. Several white spots are often present, with some individuals having yellow or blue spots on the dorsal surfaces. Flanks are yellowish with black spots. Venter is yellowish with orange reticulation. Webbing is orange-red (Inger and Stuebing 2005).The tadpole has an oval, deep body, with total length reaching up to 45 mm. The tail has a narrow tip. Body is pale light brown. Black spots may be present on the body, or just a single spot on the side of the head. Spotting pattern can resemble that of Rana chalconota, but R. pardalis tadpoles lack white glandular patches on the venter (Inger and Stuebing 2005).

Peninsular Malaysia; Pulau Tiga Island (Malaysia), Sumatra (Indonesia), Kalimantan (Borneo: Indonesia), Sabah and Sarawak (Borneo: Malaysia), and the southern Philippines (Mindanao, Negros, Bohol and Luzon Islands). Occurs from sea level to 1,015 m asl. Found in both primary and secondary rainforest (Diesmos et al. 2004; Inger and Stuebing 2005).

This frog uses its heavily webbed hands and feet to glide. It presumably forages in canopy. It gathers in breeding aggregations in swampy forest, at marshes, ponds and quiet pools, and is common along logging roads where streams are blocked and form pools. The call is a brief raspy chuckle. Eggs are laid and tadpoles develop in standing water.

The primary threat is loss of habitat through deforestation (due to logging) (Diesmos et al. 2004).

The harlequin tree frog (Rhacophorus pardalis) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss.