Update on red-eyed tree frog research in Gamboa, Panamá!

Emma Kimberly
Class of 2020
Zanesville, Ohio
Research Assistant
Gamboa, Panamá

My new favorite kind of toad -
South American Toad,
Rhinella margaritifera

So today marks two weeks since we first arrived in Panamá! I cannot believe how fast the time is going. Our trip here was smooth and after just a few short days we were settled into our Smithsonian Institute owned apartment. Our neighbors consist of other researchers and volunteers of varying conservation and wildlife organizations, it is so amazing to be surrounded by such interesting people who share the same love for animals (mostly frogs) and science that we do!









       During our first week, we dove right into setting up our experiment. Dr. Bouchard led the charge in how the mesocosms (giant circular tadpole tanks) needed to be set-up and Gwen and I followed. My experiment consists of 16 mesocosms, half containing 45 red-eyed tree frog tadpoles each (high density) and the other half containing 5 tadpoles each (low density). Each mesocosm needed to be cleaned, filled with water, provided a leaf litter bag, covered with a screen to prevent the water from being colonized by organisms like mosquitoes, and secured with an elastic band. Also, each mesocosm needed to have sufficient overflow holes with screen to cover them.

Agalychnis callidryas eggs are
laid on leaves overhanging a
pond so that the tadpoles drop
into the water when they
are ready to hatch!

Luckily most mesocosms already had these screens still secured, but some needed repairs. We had to make a trip to a hardware store and I enjoyed practicing my Spanish-speaking skills when asking the workers where item "X" was located.

However, my true Spanish skills were put to the test when I had to call a Spanish-speaking clinic and figure out how to get Gwen a doctor's appointment because she got sick the first week, poor girl! Shout out to Profe Escondo back at home for helping me be confident enough in my speaking abilities to use them fully while I'm here - it's so exciting to actually use my knowledge of a foreign language in real life situations!

Belo in it's predator cage,
check out Gwen's blog
for more info on them!

       So now that both my and Gwen's experiments are up and running, we have been feeding our tadpoles every 5 days and analyzing initial photos of tadpoles in each mesocosm so that we can later take more photos and discover how much and how fast they are growing and developing. OH! I forgot to mention the beautifully ferocious predators that are being used in Gwen's experiment and how fun they were to capture.

Quarry Pond catching belos!

They are called Belostomatids, nickname toe-biters, and are giant water bugs that stab their prey with their proboscis and inject a powerful saliva so they can then suck out the liquified insides of their prey. Yum. Anyways, Dr. Bouchard and I spent a total of at least 4 hours thigh deep in this smelly, murky pond with giant diving spiders. Each capture was like finding a piece of gold!

Our fancy metabolic rate measuring equipment

Once my tadpoles reach the required size, the remainder of my time here will consist of mostly analyzing photos, measuring metabolic rates, and dissecting sample tadpoles. It will be a crunch to get it all done before we go home, but we will get it done!

Emerald-eyed Gladiator Frog,
Hypsiboas crepitans

Not only am I having a great time doing field work and working on our project, but in my down time,I have been able to go on runs, see tons of exotic wildlife, go to a fish fry in the rainforest, eat authentic Panamanian fonda (food truck) food, attend weekly Frog Talks and a Gamboa Women in Science meeting, and go on a tour of the Gamboa Amphibian Research and
Conservation Center (Gamboa ARCC)!!!

Making friends with the red-eyed tree frogs

I am really overwhelmed and feeling very blessed by how amazing this experience has been and I am not even halfway through it. I cannot wait to make my next post and update on what is yet to come, stay tuned!