Dendropsophus minutus
Silhouette: Dmitry Bogdanov (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Dendropsophus minutus (lesser treefrog) is a species of frog in the family Hylidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In Spanish it is known as ranita amarilla común.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, intermittent freshwater marshes, pastureland, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forest, ponds, and canals and ditches. Scientists have seen it as high as 2000 meters above sea level and as low as at sea level.
During the breeding period, the male frogs perch on grass and shrubs near water and on plants mid-water. The male frogs have shown territorial and competitive behavior near preferred perches. The females lay eggs in still bodies of water, such as ponds and puddles.
This frog ranges across a very large part of South America, in a variety of habitats, so the individual frogs can be considerably different from each other. In 2014, a team of 30 scientists studied the mtDNA of this frog and found the species had 47 different groups in it. Wikipedia →
Recording0:04
Brazil · 2026
© Manequinho Correia · XC1078448 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Recording0:47
Brazil · 2024
© vinicius_s_domingues · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:52
Brazil · 2020
© JULIO CESAR GONZALEZ FILIPINO · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Tree Frog sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 41st most-seen of the 44 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Tree Frog in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in January–June, August and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Tambopata National Reserve's wettest months, with about 400 mm of rain against 45 mm in July.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lesser Tree Frog sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Lesser Tree Frog sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Serra dos Órgãos National Park (Brazil, about 20%).
Same genus: Dendropsophus
The closest relatives of the Lesser Tree Frog that you can see in Tambopata National Reserve (genus Dendropsophus, Yellow Tree Frogs) are Inotawa Tree Frog (about 20%), Red-skirted Tree Frog (about 10%) and Mottled Clown Treefrog (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lesser Tree Frog is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Tambopata National Reserve (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
