Glass Frogs: Centrolenidae

Glass frogs are mainly land species that live in humid mountain forests. Lower on the mountains where the weather is warm, these forests are called rainforests. In colder areas higher up mountainsides, they are called cloud forests. Both areas get a good deal of rain and are very humid. Most of the glass frogs live among trees and plants that line streams. Their tadpoles live and grow in slow-moving waters of the streams. The Pichincha glass frog, for instance, lives in cloud forests high on mountains that are 6,430 to 7,870 feet (1,960 to 2,400 meters) above sea level. The Nicaraguan glass frog chooses humid forests that are not so far up. It lives about 328 to 4,921 feet (100 to 1,500 meters) above sea level. Fleischmann's glass frog goes even lower on mountainsides, down to 200 feet (60 meters) above sea level, but also may live as high as 4,790 feet (1,460 meters) above sea level. Each of these three species makes its home in plants and trees around streams.

Some people think that a few species of glass frogs, especially those that survive in Mexico, may be able to make their homes in places away from streams by living in wet plants, like bromeliads (broh-MEE-lee-ads) that grow on the sides of trees. Bromeliads often have overlapping leaves that form cups and can hold rainwater. If the water is deep enough and does not drain out or dry up, the tadpoles might be able to survive there and develop into froglets. So far, however, the tadpoles of only one species, known by its scientific name of Centrolene buckleyi, has been found living in a bromeliad.