Page 31 - World of Animals - Issue #29
P. 31

5 0  f a b u l o us  f r o gs
                                                                                                     50 fabulous frogs

                                         BELOW Penguins are able to
                                         BELOW
                                         consume salt water, without acs,
                                         Goliath frogs have no vocal s
                  5. Prehistoric         any adverse effects

                                         and instead make long, whistling
                                         noises by holding their mouths open
                 frogs were the
                  size of beach
                        balls
                  The super-sized devil frog
                  (Beezlebufo ampinga) of the
                 Late Cretaceous is the largest
                  frog ever discovered. It grew
                   up to 41 centimetres (16
                  inches) long, weighed some
                 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) and
                 baby dinosaurs likely numbered
                      among its prey.
                   6. One tree
                 frog is the last
                    of its kind
                   The only known surviving
                 Rabbs fringe-limbed tree frog
                  (Ecnomiohyla rabborum) is                                                                                 32cm
                  a male kept at Zoo Atlanta,
                 Georgia. It has not been seen in
                 the wild since 2007 and the last
                female died in 2009, so extinction                                        7.7mm
                   seems sadly inevitable.
                  7. Rain frogs             GOLIATH FROG
                     are born               Conraua goliath
                                            Class Amphibia
                  pip-squeaks
                  When the going gets tough,
                  rotund rain frogs (Breviceps)
                from southern Africa don’t really   Territory Cameroon,
                  have the physique to make a   Equatorial Guinea

                                            Diet Dragonflies, worms,
                  quick getaway. Instead, they   smaller frogs

                  inflate themselves into a ball   Lifespan 15 years
                 shape and make a high-pitched   Adult weight Up to 3.3kg
                                            (7.3lb)
                       distress call.       Conservation Status
                                                                                          PAEDOPHRYNE
                   8. There are                                                           AMAUENSIS
                frogs as loud as            ENDANGERED                                    Paedophryne amauensis
                                                                                          Class Amphibia
                  lawnmowers              10. Goliath
                   A national icon of Puerto
                in size, it makes up for in volume.  frogs are the                        Territory Papua New Guinea
                 Rico, what the common coquí
                 (Eleutherpdactylus coqui) lacks
                                                                                          Diet Mites
                                                                                          Lifespan Unknown
                 Its call can reach 80-90 decibels   largest on Earth                     Adult weight Unknown
                                                                                          Conservation Status
                 up close – about the same level
                    as a vacuum cleaner.                                                                        ABOVE
                                                                                                                The tiny Paedophyrne
                                                                                           NOT EVALUATED
                     9. Some              These frogs didn’t get their giant-sounding name                      amauensis is dwarfed
                                                                                                                by a US dime
                                          for nothing. About the size of a domestic cat and
                 tomatoes can             around 40 times longer than the smallest frog (see   11. The smallest frog

                    fight back             right), goliaths are found by fast-flowing rivers and   fits on a Smartie


                                          waterfalls in the tropical forests of western Africa.
                  If its bright orange body isn’t   Unlike most frog species, the male is bigger than
                   enough to deter potential   the female, and it’s thought this may be down to   At the opposite end of the scale to the goliath frog is
                                            e
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                  predators, when threatened,   ,  their habits during the mating season, when males     Paedophryne amauensis, native to Papua New Guinea. As
                  r
                     t
                   eda

                             h
                              r
                             t
                                          battle for territory and construct nests out of small
                      g
                  Madagascan tomato frogs    b a t t l e f o r t e r r i t o r y a n d c o n s t r u c t n e s t s o u t o f s m a l l    well as being the most diminutive frog, it is also the smallest
                               o f
                       a
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                    a
                              a
                  M
                     a
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                                  g
                          n t
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                                r
                                              . A
                                             k
                                                   e
                                              s
                                                 s w
                                           o
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                                                           g s
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                        ) a
                          e a
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                            b
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                  y
                                     e
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                                    c
                 ( (Dyscophus) are able to produce    rocks. As well as being seen as a tasty meal for     known amphibian. It wasn’t formally described until 2012,
                    o
                 D
                                   u
                                          crocodiles and snakes, goliath frogs are also on the
                 a noxious, glue-like substance    crocodiles and snakes, goliath frogs are also on the   but considering that adults average a mere 7.7 millimetres
                 a n
                    x
                     i
                         l
                      u
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                       s
                       , g
                     o
                         u
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                           -
                          e
                            i
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                             e s
                            k
                                          menu for local people. It’s thought a combination
                   w h i c h a c t s a s a n i r r i t a n t  menu for local people. It’s thought a combination   (0.3 inches) long, that’s no surprise. They live well-hidden in
                   which acts as an irritant..
                                          of over-hunting and capturing for the pet trade has
                                          of over-hunting and capturing for the pet trade has   the leaf litter of the forest floor, feeding on tiny bugs. Their

                                          led to its endangered status and efforts are now
                                          led to its endangered status and efforts are now   peeping calls are akin to those of insects – this is thought to
                                          underway to protect it.
                                          underway to protect it.                         be another reason that they were overlooked for so long.
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