onto the female, the female uses her hind legs to scrape out a water-filled open depression over a period of around 40 to 160 minutes. After basin construction the female arches her dorsum out of the water of the basin, lays her eggs which are fertilized by the male, and finally lowers her dorsum back into the water. The small, black, fertilized eggs slide off the female’s back and float within the basin. Basin construction reproductive models are rare within frogs, only occurring within 15 of over 5100 species of anurans. Basin construction during amplexus by the female is especially rare and is expressed only by S. sila and the species’ close relative S. sordida. All other Smilisca species deposit their eggs into standing water as a film that floats upon the surface. The basin construction reproductive model is a synapomorphy characteristic for S. sila and S. sordida, although S. sila only displays a single basin reproductive model (the open basin) while S. sordida displays two, the open basin and buried basin where eggs are buried beneath the substrate. Open basins may provide higher temperatures relative to that of the stream (potentially allowing for faster growth of young) as well as safety from aquatic predators such as fish. However, the basin model is still susceptible to the negative impacts of parasites such as planarians, predation from tadpoles (of other species or of same species), desiccation, and flooding. Success of basin eggs is influenced by spatial distribution of predators and time of oviposition. Enemies Predators S. sila is commonly preyed upon by Trachops cirrhosus, the frog-eating bat, and Corethrella spp. known as frog-biting midges. T. cirrhosus flies along streams and catches frogs that it hears calling alongside the river. After being caught, the frog is eaten whole. Frog-biting midges consume the blood of the frogs and can potentially transmit blood parasites. Both species use the advertisement calls of male S. sila to locate their prey. T. cirrhosus is better able to locate frogs that use asynchronous, complex calls away from ambient noise that may mask location, and both T. cirrhosus and the frog-biting midges show preference for the leading calls of synchronous choruses. S. sila uses visual cues to locate these predators and utilizes acoustic crypsis to hide their location as the males call. Parasites S. sila adults are vulnerable to blood parasites transferred via frog-biting midges. S. sila eggs and