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Platymantis spelaeus

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Platymantis spelaeus, also known as the Negros cave frog or cave wrinkled ground frog, is an endangered frog found only in the forested limestone areas of southern Negros in the Philippines. It is one of two cave-dwelling Platymantis species, the other being Platymantis insulatus.

Adult males measure 42–47 mm and females 53–61 mm in length. It has a rounded snout, a relatively large eardrum, and discs on its fingers and toes. The fingers have no webbing, while the toes are slightly webbed at the base. Its skin is rough, and its color ranges from olive-green to brown with darker markings. The thighs have dark bars, the inner thighs are orange or lavender, and the belly is cream with possible brown flecks.

These frogs live in limestone karst and caves within forested limestone areas at elevations of 20–400 m above sea level. They can be very common during the rainy season but are rarely seen in the dry season. They reproduce by direct development, meaning there is no free-living tadpole stage.

Threats include habitat loss from shifting agriculture, human encroachment, guano mining, and limestone quarrying. The type locality is inside the Tiyabanan Banio community-based conservation area. Status: Endangered (IUCN 3.1).


This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:38 (CET).