Waxy Monkey Tree Frog

The waxy monkey tree frog is a nocturnal, arboreal frog native to the dry forests and thorn scrub of the Gran Chaco and surrounding regions of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil. It is best known for a waterproofing behavior unique among frogs: glands in its skin secrete a waxy lipid mixture that the animal wipes evenly over its body using slow, deliberate limb movements, sharply reducing water loss through the skin and allowing it to survive in habitats too arid for most amphibians. Its pale green body, dark-ringed eyes, and unhurried, hand-over-hand climbing gait have earned it the popular name monkey frog. Rather than a true call, males produce a soft series of clicks, and eggs are laid in leaf nests folded over pools of water.