Cophyla phyllodactyla Boettger 1880

M 27-29 mm. Tympanum indistinct, 1/3-2/5 of eye diameter. Tibiotarsal articulation reaches the eye. Toe 3 slightly shorter than toe 5. Skin smooth. Colouration variable, often uniformly brownish on back, a beige vertebral line can be present. Sometimes with broad beige dorsolateral bands on the flanks. Ventrally uniformly beige-greyish (Glaw and Vences 2007).Similar species: Cophyla berara is slightly smaller and has much longer notes in advertisement calls. C. occultans occurs sympatrically with C. phyllodactyla but is distinctly smaller. Several Platypelis species can be confused with Cophyla as well (Glaw and Vences 2007).Taken with permission from Glaw and Vences (2007).

Benavony, Lokobe, Manongarivo, Montagne d’ Ambre, Nosy Be, Nosy Komba (Glaw and Vences 2007). It ranges from near sea level to 1100 m asl, and is found in both pristine and disturbed rainforest, as well as plantations (ylang-ylang, coffee, cacao) (Glaw and Vences 2008).

Habits: Males call at night on leaves at perch heights of 1.5-3.5 m. Often in rainforest, but on Nosy Be the typical calls of this species can be commonly heard also from ylang-ylang plantations and secondary and disturbed vegetation. During the day found in bamboo holes. One male was found with eggs and tadpoles of different developmental stage in a water-filled bamboo trunk (Glaw and Vences 2007). Has non-feeding larvae (Glaw and Vences 2008).Calls: A single melodious note that is repeated after regular intervals in long-lasting series. Note repetition rate is about 60/min (Glaw and Vences 2007).

Common. Thought unlikely to be threatened since it can tolerate altered habitat. However, if sugar cane farming spreads, which results in a much more open habitat, it is likely to represent a serious threat (Glaw and Vences 2008).It occurs in four protected areas: Réserve Naturelle Intégrale de Lokobe, Parc National de Montagne d'Ambre, Monongarivo Special Reserve, and Réserve Naturelle Intégrale du Tsaratanana (Glaw and Vences 2008).

Cophyla phyllodactyla is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, plantations, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.