Watch Out, This Ghost Glass Frog’s Got the Crazy Eyes!!

Habitat: Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama

My what strange eyes you have… all the better to HYPNOTIZE ME WITH?!! This  Ghost Glass Frog, (Centrolene ilex) is veryyy suspicious with those marbled swirling peepers. I mean, there must be a reason to have such captivating eyes, other than just attracting mates and what not.

Maybe they’re there to distract you from seeing inside its body. It is a glass frog, after all, which means that they are relatively transparent. I would be a little self conscious if everyone could look right inside to see what I had for lunch that day, too. However, the frogs are apparently able to vary their the intensity of its green coloration to match the substrate (typically a leaf) on which it is resting (source). That’s where the ‘ghost’ portion of their name comes from – they’re such master camouflagers that it’s like they’re invisible!

The only thing that really stands out are those crazy eyes… which are quite impressive.