newt in the throat

Some green frogs can reverse their sex even in forested ponds, free from high levels of pollution.

- Love is in the air.

This little cuban tree frog [Osteopilus septentrionalis] probably thought he was the luckiest frog ever when he spotted this female pig frog [Rana grylio] on her way to the breeding pond. Maybe this is harsh but I don’t think its going to work out. Image by Jake Scott

Looking like he’d spent the last week inside a rock tumbler, this Rose’s rain frog [Breviceps rosei] was found in a pond in Kommetjie, in the Western Cape province of South Africa, by iSpot user Sally.

Eleutherodactylus iberia is the smallest frog in the Northern Hemisphere. 

This striking frog is as beautiful as it is rare. The Kerala Hills frog [Melanobatrachus indicus] is a microhylid, and the sole species of its subfamily Melanobatrachinae. Only rediscovered in 1997, this frog is listed as threatened by the IUCN Red List, though very little information on its estimated population has been collected. It’s endemic to the humid evergreen forests of India’s southern states. Images by Benjamin Tapley.

These are the kind of snouts legends are made of- the profound protrusions of the duck-bill hylid frog [also known as the Mexican shovel-headed tree frog; Diaglena spatulata; synonymous with Triprion spatulatus]. So what are their “bills” used for? The verdict’s still out, but it these frogs have been sighted on multiple occasions backing into holes in trees to hide, and using their heads to “plug” the entrance and conceal themselves- proving useful in this application at least. These frogs can be found from the Pacific coast of Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. They’re listed as “least concern” on the IUCN Red List. Images by Jorge Armín Escalante Pasos and Cheryl Harleston of iNaturalist.org.

Enormous African bullfrogs [also known as pixie frogs, Pyxicephalus adspersus- an abbreviation of their scientific name] calling and wrestling for mates in a South African watering hole. Males will duke it out in even the smallest of puddles, often injuring or killing their rivals. Strangely, it’s the females of this species that remain on the small side- in most species of frogs the reverse is true. Images by Shutterstock.

Solomons Eyelash Frog, Ceratobatrachus guentheri. © Robin Moore

www.robindmoore.com

A Couch’s spadefoot toad [Scaphiopus couchii] eating a camel spider while a moth watches. Image by Noahk16 on Flickr. 

A red-bellied toad [Melanophryniscus dorsalis], a close relative to the bumblebee walking toad, displays its bright red hands and feet in a defensive posture known as unkenreflex. [”Unke” is German for toad.] Unkenreflex refers specifically to some amphibian’s behavior of contorting their bodies to reveal previously hidden colors when under threat of predation. The sudden appearance of apostematic coloring serves to warn predators of their toxicity. While it may be named after toads, many species of salamanders and newts have also adapted this reflex. Images by Axel Kwet.

granular, slope snouted and white spotted glass frogs, which, thanks to their nocturnal habits and translucent skin (featured here), are quite photogenic at night. but given that most are only a few centimetres in length, they’re hard to find. it’s also worth noting that unlike a tree frog, whose eyes are on the side of its head, glass frogs have forward facing eyes. many species of glass frog, like the granular, are endangered. (x, x, x)

@astranaut

Vietnamese Mossy Frog (Theloderma corticale) by Michael Kern

a most paradoxical frog

“Brachycephalus” frogs more like wtf are these little E.T. men