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Wednesday 20 February 2013

Namaqua Rain Frog

Image: Dean Boshoff
Breviceps namaquensis
It's the Namaqua Rain Frog. Gaze upon his mighty girth and weep, puny human.

These South African frogs are burrowers, spending most of their time under dry, sandy ground and only visiting the surface once the area has been lavishly prepared with sumptuous rains.

Image: Dean Boshoff
HMPH
They're less than 5 cm (2 in) long and can usually be politely described as "plump"...

Image: Dean Boshoff
RAAAAAARRR!
But when threatened, they inflate themselves to their full girth. Now they're about as wide as they are long!

And then that tiny mouth opens and a blood-curdling shriek arises from dark belly-depths unknown...


And the Beast did squeak.
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9 comments:

  1. TexWisGirl20 February 2013 at 17:12

    that just absolutely made my day!!! too dang cute!

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  2. Joseph JG20 February 2013 at 21:04

    It's scarcely believable!

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  3. ???22 February 2013 at 10:26

    I came across this video on Tumblr a couple of days ago and I think I've watched it about twenty times already. Frogs are brilliant animals.

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  4. Crunchy22 February 2013 at 18:12

    It's like a land pufferfish!

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  5. Joseph JG22 February 2013 at 22:38

    @Jedediah: Haha! You CAN'T watch it just once!

    @Crunchy: If we knew more about Rain Frogs in the old days, perhaps pufferfish would be called Sea Rain Frogs?

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  6. jesse24 April 2013 at 13:28

    that is the cutest thing i have ever seen! i want about six of them!

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  7. Joseph JG24 April 2013 at 13:53

    You could have an incredibly high pitched barbershop sextet!

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  8. Unknown24 July 2014 at 21:10

    So... That would mean the frogs would be performing in a barbershop?

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  9. Joseph JG25 July 2014 at 03:01

    Oh wow, a barbershop quartet of them would be ear splitting!

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