Amazing Frogs

Crucifix Toad

 The Crucifix Toad or Holy Cross Frog (Notaden bennettii) is an Australian, fossorial frog. It is one of the few Australian frogs to display aposematism. It is native to wastern New South Wales, and south western Queensland.

The Crucifix Toad is the most distinctive species of frog within the Notaden genus. Whereas most Notaden frogs are dark brown in colour, the Crucifix Toad exhibits many bright colours. Its dorsal surface is bright yellow, with a cross of many colors centered on the back. The cross is outlined with large, black dots, and filled with white, black and red dots. The ventral surface is white, and the flank's blue.

The Crucifix Toad is a small, and very round frog. Its nose is blunt, and legs and feet are small. As this species is fossorial, the tympanum is hidden. Males reach a length of 6.3 centimetres (2.5 in), and females a length of 6.8 centimetres (2.7 in). The species feet have little "spades" to help them burrow deeply.

The Crucifix Toad is a ground dwelling frog, which inhabits the arid areas of western New South Wales and Queensland. To survive long periods without water, the Crucifix Toad will bury itself underground and encase itself in a cocoon. Upon very heavy rain, they will emerge from the ground, and begin breeding in temporary ponds. The males call from within the pond to attract the female. The call is a "woop". The development of the tadpole is rapid so as to take advantage of the wet conditions and reducing the risk of them dying from the pond drying up. The cycle is so quick it can be over in six weeks.

The frog exudes a tacky and elastic "frog glue" onto its dorsal skin when provoked. Its purpose is uncertain; it may be intended to confuse and deter predators such as snakes, or to trap biting insects (which would later be consumed when the frog sheds and eats its skin).

Male Crucafix Toads have been documented to use this glue to attach themselves onto the larger females during mating. The glue has been found to be stronger than available non-toxic medical adhesives and is the subject of further study. The glue is a protein-based pressure-sensitive adhesive that functions even in wet conditions.

Lungless Frog

The first recorded species of frog that breathes without lungs has been found in a clear, cold-water stream on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. An unassuming little frog from Borneo has been found to have an exceedingly rare anatomical feature - introducing Barbourula kalimantanensis, the only known frog with no lungs.

 

The Bornean flat-headed frog gets all of its oxygen through its skin. Local gold-mining operations, however, are fast polluting the streams where the frog lives. A single specimen of Barbourula was described in the 1970s, but biologists had no idea, until now, that the frog had no lungs.

Budgett's Frog

Budgett's frogs are found in South America, in the countries of Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. Lepidobatrachus frogs are generally a light, olive green in color, sometimes with lighter green or yellow mottling. They are capable of growing to an adult size of 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm).

They have a rounded, flattened body with eyes set high on their head, giving them a blob-like appearance. They have short limbs, which do not make them particularly efficient swimmers. They do not have teeth, but they do have two sharp protrusions inside their large mouth which serve the same purpose.

Budgett's frogs are highly intelligent but aggressive creatures. The two sharp protrusions in their mouth allow them to attack both prey and predator alike. This frog is also known as the "Freddy Krueger" frog, because when frightened, it will open its disproportionately large mouth and emit a grunt or a shrill scream.

It has even been known to bite when cornered by a human or predator. The Budgett's frog is aquatic, and spends much of its time in streams, ponds, lakes, marshes, and slow moving rivers. It is camouflaged to look like a smooth river pebble.

Due to habitat destruction, the Budgett's frog is on the verge of being listed as a threatened species, but they are becoming more common at reptile trade shows. Budgett's frogs are very rare to find in a traditional chain pet shop. The most commonly available species is L. laevis. Due to their comical appearance, they tend to make an attractive option for the intermediate to advanced amphibian keeper. However, Budgett's frogs do not do well in captivity and usually aren't happy.

Suriname Toad

The Suriname toad or star-fingered toad (Spanish: aparo, rana comun de celdillas, rana tablacha, sapo chinelo, sapo chola, or sapo de celdas) (Pipa pipa) is a species of frog in the Pipidae family.

It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical swamps, swamps, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marches. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The appearance of the toad is somewhat like a leaf. It is almost completely flat, and colored in a mottled brown. Feet are broadly webbed with the front toes having small, star-like appendages. Sizes of close to 20 cm (8 in), are recorded, though 10-13 cm (4-5 in) is more typical. The Surinam toad has minute eyes, no teeth and no tongue.

Surinam toads are most well known for their remarkable reproductive habits. Unlike the majority of toads, the males of this species doesn't attract mates with croaks and other sounds often associated with these aquatic animals. Instead they produce a sharp clicking sound by snapping the hyoid bone in their throat. 

The partners rise from the floor while in amplexus and flip through the water in arcs. During each arc, the female releases 3-10 eggs, which get embedded in the skin on her back by the male's movements.

After implantation the eggs sink into the skin and form pockets over a period of several days, eventually taking on the appearance of an irregular honeycomb.

The larvae develop through to the tadpole stage inside these pockets, eventually emerging from the mother's back as fully developed toads, though they are less than an inch long (2 cm). Once they have emerged from their mother's back, the toads begin a largely solitary life.

Purple Frog

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a frog species belonging to the family Sooglossidae. It can be found in the Western Ghats in India. Common names for this species are Purple Frog, Indian Purple Frog, Pignose Frog or Doughnut Frog. It was discovered by S.D. Biju and F. Bossyut in October 2003 and was found to be unique for the geographic region.

With its closest relatives in the Seychelles, the Nasikabatrachus is thought to have evolved separately for millennia. Its discovery also adds to the evidence that Madagascar and the Seychelles separated from the Indian landmass sometime well after the breakup of Gondwanaland had started. Owing to its ancient lineage, the purple frog has also been called "the coelacanth of frogs".

The body of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is shaped similarly to that of most frogs, but is somewhat rounded compared to other more dorsoventrally-flattened frogs. Its arms and legs splay out in the standard anuran body form. Compared to other frogs, N. sahyadrensis has a small head and an unusual pointed snout. Adults are typically dark purple in color. The specimen with which the species was originally described was seven centimeters long from the tip of the snout to the tip of the urostyle. Also, its cry sounds more like one from a chicken.

The frog spends most of the year underground, surfacing only for about two weeks, during the monsoon, for purposes of mating. The frog's reclusive lifestyle is what caused the species to escape earlier notice by biologists. Unlike many other burrowing species of frogs that emerge and feed above the ground, this species has been found to forage underground feeding mainly on termites using their tongue and a special buccal groove. They show inguinal amplexus when mating afloat in temporary rainwater pools.