biology

Spanish painted frog

Spanish painted frog is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Spanish painted frog rather than just read about it. In short: The Spanish painted frog (Discoglossus jeanneae), in Spanish sapillo pintojo meridional, is a species of frog in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae). It is endemic to Spain.

Key takeaways

Spanish painted frog belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Spanish painted frog to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Spanish painted frog from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Spanish painted frog (Discoglossus jeanneae), in Spanish sapillo pintojo meridional, is a species of frog in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae). It is endemic to Spain.

Description The Spanish painted frog is a medium-sized amphibian. The top of the frog is predominantly colored with dark browns in the form of spots or stripes, and its underbelly is usually white or yellow. The males have webbing between their hind toes, but the webbing is not found in females or adolescent males. During the mating season, the males develop black calluses on the toe webbing, throat, belly, and parts of the forefeet. This species is very closely related to the Iberian painted frog, but they differ significantly. The Spanish painted frog has a shorter snout and smaller forefeet than its Iberian counterpart.

Distribution and habitat The Spanish painted frog is endemic to the southern, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Spain, but is more densely populated in the southern regions. It mostly lives in open areas, pine groves and shrublands from sea level to roughly 2,000 m above sea level.

Biology Not much is known about the biology of the Spanish painted frog, but it is believed to be very similar to that of the Iberian painted frog. It is believed to be active year-round. Eggs are usually laid in small, shallow bodies of water. Its diet consists mostly of insects and worms, though it has also been known to eat the young of other frogs and toads. Most activity is at night. The tadpoles eat plant material.

Status The Spanish painted frog is classified as near threatened according to the IUCN Red List, and results from a series of droughts throughout most of its range. A high probability exists that isolated populations have become extinct along the Mediterranean coast.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spanish painted frog

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Spanish painted frog claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Spanish painted frog before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Spanish painted frog ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Spanish painted frog

In research: Spanish painted frog appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Spanish painted frog in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Spanish painted frog is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amphibians described in 1986, Discoglossus, Endemic amphibians of the Iberian Peninsula, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spanish painted frog outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Spanish painted frog in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Spanish painted frog means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Spanish painted frog out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spanish painted frog in simple terms?

The Spanish painted frog (Discoglossus jeanneae), in Spanish sapillo pintojo meridional, is a species of frog in the family Alytidae (formerly Discoglossidae). It is endemic to Spain.

Why does Spanish painted frog matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Spanish painted frog?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Spanish painted frog.