Editing Hula painted frog (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
The Hula painted frog is [[endemic]] to [[Hula Valley]] of [[Israel]] and has an extremely limited range, known only from an area of less than {{convert|6.5|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. It has only been recorded from two localities, the [[Hula National Reserve]] and the village of [[Yesud HaMa'ala]], located about {{convert|1|km|mi}} apart from each other.<ref name=":0" /> It was formerly more widespread, as evidenced by fossil remains of this species found at the [[Ubeidiya prehistoric site]] in the [[Jordan Valley]], dating back to the [[Calabrian (stage)|Calabrian]] stage of the [[Early Pleistocene]] epoch (around 1.5 million years ago).<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haas |first=Georg |title=On the Vertebrate Fauna of the Lower Pleistocene Site 'Ubeidiya, Jerusalem |publisher=The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities |year=1966 |pages=67}}</ref> The Hula Valley had survived as an area containing major water bodies such as Lake Hula throughout the [[Pleistocene]] epoch, when geological activity and climatic changes led to a dramatic decline in suitable habitat for ''[[Latonia (frog)|Latonia]]'' frogs, allowing the valley to serve as a [[Refugium (population biology)|refugium]] for this species while the genus became extinct elsewhere.<ref name=":2" /> Although a 2017 study found that [[environmental DNA]] of this frog was also present in the Agamon Ha-Hula nature park and the Ein Te’o nature reserve, it was also noted that since most water bodies in the Hula Valley are interconnected via streams and canals, the presence of DNA at a site could be due to it being washed downstream from a different area and is not definitive evidence that the frog itself is present.<ref name=":1" />

This species is [[semiaquatic]] (though mainly [[Terrestrial animal|terrestrial]]) and is known to inhabit both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Adults have been recorded in damp, [[peat]]y soil underneath {{convert|20|-|30|cm|in}} of decomposed [[leaf litter]] amongst thickets of [[common reed]], [[holy bramble]] and occasionally [[fig]] trees, as well as beneath dried grass or in burrows near water. In Yesud HaMa'ala, the Hula painted frog is known from a single ditch approximately {{convert|600|m|ft}} long, with slow-flowing water that reaches a maximum depth of about {{convert|150|cm|ft}}. This ditch is supplied by a small permanent [[Spring (hydrology)|spring]] and has a thick layer of mud at its bottom, while dense vegetation occurs both in and around the water, with the present plant species including common reed, [[water lettuce]] and [[common duckweed]].<ref name=":0" />