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 Rincón de la Vieja National Park
Mexican Smilisca
Smilisca baudinii
Milk Frog
Trachycephalus macrotis
Yellow Treefrog
Dendropsophus microcephalus
Giant Marine Toad
Rhinella horribilis
Warszewitsch's Frog
Lithobates warszewitschii
Dry Forest Toad
Incilius coccifer
Fitzinger's Robber Frog
Craugastor fitzingeri
Turbo White-lipped Frog
Leptodactylus poecilochilus
Savage's Thin-toed Frog
Leptodactylus savagei
Red-eyed Treefrog
Agalychnis callidryas
Wet Forest Toad
Incilius melanochlorus
Atlantic Broad-headed Litter Frog
Craugastor megacephalus
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Masked Tree Frog at Rincón de la Vieja 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