Discoglossus montalentii, the Corsican painted frog, is a small frog of the family Alytidae endemic to the island of Corsica, France, found mainly in the central mountains at elevations between about 300 and 1,900 m. It belongs to a small genus found only around the western Mediterranean, all sharing the disc-shaped tongue that gives the group its name, and is the most montane member of that genus, rarely straying down to the coast where its relative Discoglossus sardus takes over.
Identification
Adults reach about 65 mm in length, a build shared with the other painted frogs of the western Mediterranean. The facts box above carries the conservation category drawn from the species’ Wikidata record; further detail on coloration and markings is not given in the sources checked for this page, so it is left out here rather than guessed.
Habitat and range
The species inhabits still and flowing water in mountain forests, including woodland streams and torrents, and is agile at leaping between rocks, a more montane habit than the related Tyrrhenian painted frog, Discoglossus sardus, with which it shares the island. Within Corsica it is found mainly in the central mountains at elevations between about 300 and 1,900 m, well above the lowland streams and coastal wetlands that other Discoglossus species can tolerate.
Behaviour and breeding
Its agility on wet rock, leaping between rocks along mountain streams and torrents, reflects a life spent in and around fast-moving water rather than the still pools favoured by lowland relatives. Details of its calling season, clutch size and tadpole development are not given in the sources checked for this page, so they are left out here rather than guessed.
Conservation
The IUCN category is shown in the facts box above. As a single-island endemic restricted to a narrow band of central Corsican mountains, the species’ range gives it little room to shift if its mountain streams are disturbed, even where local populations remain healthy.
Similar species
Discoglossus montalentii is one of six species in its genus, all painted frogs of similar build but separated mainly by range. The Iberian painted frog, Discoglossus galganoi, is found in Portugal and Spain, the Spanish painted frog, Discoglossus jeanneae, occurs only in Spain, the Mediterranean painted frog, Discoglossus pictus, is native to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily and Malta, with introduced populations in northeastern Spain and southwestern France, the Tyrrhenian painted frog, Discoglossus sardus, lives on Sardinia, Corsica and the Tuscan Archipelago, and the Moroccan painted frog, Discoglossus scovazzi, is found in Morocco and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Of these, only Discoglossus sardus shares Corsica with Discoglossus montalentii, the two divided mainly by elevation rather than geography.