Jamaican laughing frog

The Jamaican laughing frog (Osteopilus ocellatus) is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is endemic to Jamaica.^[1] Other common names include Savanna-la-Mar treefrog.^[2]

Jamaican laughing frog
Illustration
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Hylidae
Genus:	Osteopilus
Species:	O. ocellatus
Binomial name
Osteopilus ocellatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Hyla brunnea[2] Osteopilus brunneus[3] Rana ocellata[2] Trachycephalus scutigerus[2]

This is a common species in most parts of Jamaica, where it occurs in a variety of habitat types, including developed but rural areas.

It is associated with bromeliads as It sometimes lays its eggs inside these plants and the tadpoles develop there.^[1] It does this in regions of Jamaica where the porous limestone substrate prevents reliable above-ground water storage. On other parts of the island the frog will brood in streams or pools of water.^[4]

Taxonomic studies determined that the binomial names Rana ocellata and Osteopilus brunneus belong to this species as synonyms, and distinguished this taxon from the mainly South American species Leptodactylus latrans.^[3]