Common Marsupial Frog

• The female incubates the eggs in a closed pouch on her back, and it is the male who inserts them one by one with his hind feet as she lays, a division of labour unique among amphibians.
• In some species of the genus the young leave the pouch as fully formed froglets, skipping the free-swimming tadpole stage entirely.
• The cloud forests of the Venezuelan Cordillera de la Costa, its only habitat, are heavily fragmented, and the chytrid fungus has also caused die-offs in several montane populations.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (amphibian)

Habitat and environment

Montane cloud forest of the Venezuelan Cordillera de la Costa

Size at birth

The eggs develop in a pouch on the female's back, from which fully formed froglets emerge

Sexual maturity

2 years

Gestation / incubation

3 months of development in the mother's dorsal pouch

Litter / clutch size

50 young

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Gastrotheca ovifera

Best time: All year round in the cloud forests of the Venezuelan Coastal Range, at night.

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.