Masked Tree Frog
Smilisca phaeota
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAmphibia (Amfibis)
- OrderAnura (Anurs)
- FamilyHylidae (Hylid Tree Frogs)
- GenusSmilisca (Cross-banded Tree Frogs)
- SpeciesSmilisca phaeota (Masked Tree Frog)
The New Granada cross-banded tree frog (Smilisca phaeota), also known as the masked tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Hylidae found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, rivers, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, plantations, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forests, ponds, and canals and ditches. Their nickname of masked tree frog comes from the black or dark colored markings that start at their nose and go back along the face toward their ear, covering their eye. Because it goes across their eye, it can help with camouflage, as many predators find prey by their open eyes. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Darién National Park
Pugnosed Tree Frog
Smilisca sila
Milk Frog
Trachycephalus macrotis
Rusty Tree Frog
Boana boans
Red Snouted Tree Frog
Scinax ruber
Yellow Treefrog
Dendropsophus microcephalus
Caracas Snouted Tree Frog
Scinax rostratus
Rosenberg's Gladiator Frog
Boana rosenbergi
Boulenger's Snouted Tree Frog
Scinax boulengeri
La Loma Tree Frog
Hyloscirtus colymba
San Carlos Treefrog
Dendropsophus phlebodes
Harlequin Treefrog
Dendropsophus ebraccatus
Red-webbed Tree Frog
Boana rufitela
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Masked Tree Frog at Darién National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
🌙 When They're Spotted
Most active during nighttime hours (6pm–6am) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there