Hyla Heinzsteinitzi
| Hyla Heinzsteinitzi | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hyla Heinzsteinitzi | ||||||||||||
| Grach , Plesser & Werner , 2007 |
Hyla heinzsteinitzi , also known as Jerusalem tree frog, is not recognized as a separate tree frog species , but belongs to the species Dryophytes japonicus (Japanese tree frog). In 2007 an occurrence from Israel was described whose holotype locality is a cistern in the area of Jerusalem . The apparently new species was named after the Israeli zoologist Heinz Steinitz (1909–1971), who among other things founded the marine biological station near Eilat . It was later proven that the species had been introduced and released into Israel.
features
The "Jerusalem tree frog" has a head-trunk length of 44 millimeters and a flattened head that is wider than it is long. The muzzle is moderately blunt in the side profile. The nostrils are aligned vertically elliptically. The protruding eyes have horizontal pupils and are larger in diameter than the eardrum behind them . There is a distinct fold of skin over the eardrum, which begins behind the eye and extends into the armpit region. The skin is smooth on the top, grained (granulated) on the abdomen and moderately smooth to grained on the throat. Webbed feet are only found between the second and fourth toes of the hind feet, while all fingers and toes are equipped with adhesive discs typical of the tree frog.
The color on the top can change between different shades of green, brown and gray during the course of the day; occasionally stains may appear. Investigated specimens from the Mamilla cistern were colored turquoise, although this could also have been a local mutation, as other samples did not show this tendency to blue color. During the day, a dark flank strip can be seen, which typically dissolves into irregular points and which lacks the hip loop characteristic of Hyla arborea . The occasional appearance of green spots on a rusty or golden brown background can only be found in Hyla heinzsteinitzi . A sometimes indistinct and interrupted white stripe can be found on the lateral upper edge of the mouth ("upper lip"). The inner thighs are colored orange.
At night, depending on the ambient temperature, there is a tendency to green (cooler) or brown (warmer) colors. The dark side stripe fades in this phase and sometimes even becomes completely blurred.
Compared to the similar and for a long time indistinguishable Asian tree frog ( Hyla savignyi ), the following deviations are emphasized: Hyla heinzsteinitzi ( Hh ) has a bluntly beveled snout, Hyla savignyi ( Hs ) a rounded snout profile. With Hh , a broken flank line ( Hs : continuous), an only indistinct white upper lip line ( Hs : clearer) and orange inner thighs ( Hs : brown) are typical. In the daytime phase with spotty back coloring, these spots are green on a brown background only at Hh . The turquoise coloration observed at least locally does not occur in Hyla savignyi . Finally, the pairing calls differ significantly. The males of the "Jerusalem tree frog" generate a call with their throat vocal sac , the sequence of which is determined by a short rise and a subsequent long fall of the tone, while the calls of the Asia Minor tree frog consist of evenly rising and falling tone curves.
Discovery, location
The history of the discovery of the species is unusual. In 1996, Constantin Grach learned that a large, open cistern filled with winter rain and dry in summer not far from the old town ( Mamilla reservoir or pool 31 ° 46 ′ 40.7 ″ N , 35 ° 13 ′ 14.3 ″ E , existence from 614 AD onwards) a bluish tree frog had been observed. He collected tadpoles and raised them. The adult animals showed a turquoise body color during the day. The shape of the head was also different and the dark lateral ligament was interrupted in contrast to H. savignyi .
Research showed that E. Shy had already recorded the mating calls of tree frogs in two other locations in 1976 and 1977, which he considered to be unusual Asian tree frogs. He had also collected specimen copies. A comparison with the new find and with new tape recordings as well as with material from Asia Minor and European tree frogs ( H. arborea ) showed that Shy's finds are identical to the new form and this represents a previously unknown species.
To this day, Hyla heinzsteinitzi is only known from these three localities in the Judean Mountains, which are only 13 kilometers apart in an east-west direction and at heights between 730 and 895 meters. The two western sites are in the city or on its northwestern edge and thus in the Mediterranean region (average annual temperature 17–19 ° C, average annual precipitation 500–700 mm). The north-eastern occurrence is already in a warmer and less precipitation area on the edge of the Judean Desert (annual average temperature 19-21 ° C, average annual precipitation about 300 mm).
The species not only lives in the range of Hyla savignyi , but the two species can apparently also occur syntopically in the same habitat.
Danger
The H. heinzsteinitzi population that was re-bred in the laboratory has apparently been destroyed by the Israeli nature conservation authority, and nothing is known about the current population situation in nature. It can be assumed, however, that the species is highly endangered or already extinct due to its - so far known - extremely small distribution area in the middle of a large city (or in its immediate vicinity) and due to its presumably tiny population, especially since pest control measures and changes in vegetation the cistern and have affected their surroundings. The IUCN has now had a risk assessment since 2008; thereafter the species is classified as "critically endangered" (threatened with extinction).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Constantin Grach, Y. Plesser & YL Werner (2007): A new, sibling, tree frog from Jerusalem (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) . - Journal of Natural History 41 (9-12), pp. 709-728. [1]
- ↑ a b species portrait at Amphibiaweb (Engl.)
- ↑ Ha'aretz online (August 30, 2007) ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (New Hebrew; with photos by Hyla heinzsteinitzi and his descriptor YL Werner)
- ↑ a b Ha'aretz online (August 19, 2007) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Engl.)
- ↑ YL Werner by email on February 17, 2008
- ↑ IUCN redlist: Hyla heinzsteinitzi (Engl.)
Web links
- Darrel R. Frost: Dryophytes-japonicus , Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference, Version 6.0, American Museum of Natural History, 1998-2019, accessed August 11, 2019.