{"id":42563,"date":"2024-10-11T13:04:42","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T11:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/78f70e74-84e5-4334-9c62-176108e1c0ca"},"modified":"2024-10-11T14:27:33","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T12:27:33","slug":"10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"10 weirdest and strangest frogs you (probably never heard of – or imagined existed, from ultrasonic screamers, and the hairy to a frog that can fly…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discover the weird and wonderful oddballs from the world of frogs <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Friday, 11 October 2024 at 11:04 AM<\/p>

\n\n

In the enchanting realm of amphibians<\/a>, frogs reign supreme with their myriad forms and behaviours.<\/strong><\/p>

Yet, among these amphibious wonders, some stand out as true anomalies, captivating the imagination with their eccentric appearances and behaviours. <\/p>

Amphibian vs reptile: what’s the difference?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>
From see-through frogs to hairy frogs and even one whose young erupt from the mother\u2019s back, here are our favourite weirdest frogs<\/p>
Weirdest frogs<\/h2>
Flying frog<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure><p>Borneo is home to more species of gliding animal than anywhere else on Earth. One of the most famous is Wallace’s flying frog, named after the famous naturalist. It glides using its huge webbed feet, which enable it to control its descent and even steer in mid-air.<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/flying-animals\">Flying animals: discover the different species that can take to the sky<\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-turtle-frog\">Turtle frog<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Turtle Frog | Myobatrachus Gouldii\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SEJGnmzialM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p>Surely the oddest of all frogs, <strong><em>Myobatrachus gouldii<\/em><\/strong> (also known as the turtle frog) is the amphibian equivalent of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/do-moles-ever-move-around-above-ground\">mole<\/a>. Restricted to the arid south-west corner of Australia, it uses its powerful forelimbs to burrow through sandy soil in search of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/news\/why-pretty-termites-can-bring-the-house-down\"> termites.<\/a> Heavy rains bring it to the surface to mate, after which it vanishes again. As with most frogs of arid areas, there is no aquatic stage. The female lays large eggs in a chamber 1m underground, which develop directly into froglets.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-hairy-frog-trichobatrachus-robustus\">Hairy frog <em>Trichobatrachus robustus<\/em><\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"\/><p class=\"p1\">A hairy frog with fur? And sharp, cat-like claws? Either might sound improbable, and Africa\u2019s hairy frog <em>Trichobatrachus robustus<\/em> is certainly stranger than fiction.This 11cm-long frog is hairy during the mating season, when the male develops a thick bristle-like fringe along his flanks and thighs.<br\/>This frog also has rather a clever survival trick. With the flex of a foot muscle, it can produce an arsenal of sharp, curved claws that snap out of its toes like switchblades.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Surinam horned frog<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1542\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/10\/Surinam-horned-frog-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Surinam-horned-frog\" class=\"wp-image-112116\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Maarten Sepp, CC BY-SA 4.0 https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Frogs are pretty well known for their big mouths but this one is pretty impressive. This big-headed, wide-mouthed amphibian is widespread across northern South America and comes in a range of bright greens and earthy browns \u2013 perfect cover for an ambush predator. It just has to push its rear end into the leaf litter and wait, its high-set eyes scanning for insects, small rodents and other frogs that stumble within lunging distance.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Glassfrog<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"467\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2023\/01\/A-male-glassfrog-photographed-from-below-using-a-flash-showing-its-transparencycredit-Jesse-Delia-313f59d.jpg\" alt=\"A male glassfrog photographed from below using a flash, showing its transparency while asleep. \u00a9 Jesse Delia\" class=\"wp-image-73326\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A male glassfrog photographed from below using a flash, showing its transparency while asleep. Jesse Delia<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/news\/glassfrogs-hide-blood-in-their-liver-to-boost-transparency\">glassfrogs<\/a> of tropical America have probably come closer than any animal to developing an invisibility cloak. And new research reveals the lengths to which these remarkable\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amphibians<\/a>\u00a0go to perfect the illusion.<\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/camouflage-animals-cryptic-coloration\">Camouflage<\/a> is usually achieved by matching one\u2019s own colour patterns to those of one\u2019s surroundings. But glassfrogs do things very differently. They have managed to rid their bodies of virtually all pigment to make themselves almost entirely transparent.<\/p><ul><li> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/transparent-animals\">Discover some weird invisible creatures you can see right though<\/a><\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-common-coqui\"><strong>Common coqu\u00ed<\/strong> <\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"287\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2014\/08\/Common_Coqui.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100277\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image credit: United States Department of Agriculture, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Is the <strong>Common coqu\u00ed<\/strong> the loudest frog? Croaking is a quintessential frog trait, something they do to defend territories and attract mates. But the size of the frog has little bearing on the volume of its croak. For example, some species of coqu\u00ed (pronounced \u2018kokee\u2019), which are rather small tree frogs, manage to create an ear-piercing din. The <strong>common coqu\u00ed<\/strong> from Puerto Rico is just 3\u20135cm long, but its calls have been measured at 100 decibels at a distance of 1m \u2013 equivalent to a chainsaw.<\/p><p><strong> Southern cricket frog<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1397\" height=\"1145\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2014\/08\/Southern-Cricket-frog.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100283\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image credit: Stephen Friedt, CC BY-SA 3.0 https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>A frog\u2019s skeleton has a number of modifications to make it a superb jumper, and the southern cricket frog is probably the best of all the frogs. <\/p><p>It is a frog’s muscles that actually power the leap, but these alone cannot explain a frog\u2019s jumping abilities. Recent research has shown that frogs have amazingly stretchy tendons, which act like a catapult or bow to explosively release their stored energy. The arrangement of bones, muscles and tendons enables frogs to make prodigious leaps. <\/p><p>Vaulting 1.8m, almost 62 times its own body length, the <strong>southern cricket frog<\/strong> from the south-eastern USA currently holds the frog jumping record.<\/p><p><strong><em>Paedophryne amauensis<\/em><\/strong> <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2014\/08\/Paedophryne-amauensis-smallest-frog.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100292\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image credit: Rittmeyer EN, Allison A, Gr\u00fcndler MC, Thompson DK, Austin CC, CC BY 2.5 https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>At a mere 7.7mm long, <strong><em>Paedophryne amauensis<\/em><\/strong> is one of the smallest vertebrate on Earth. Discovered in 2009 after a painstaking search of forests in Papua New Guinea, the micro-amphibian lives its entire life on land and does not have a tadpole stage. It inhabits the moist leaf litter of the forest floor, hunting tiny invertebrates.<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-surinam-toad-although-it-is-a-frog\">Surinam toad (although it is a frog)<\/h3><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"632\" height=\"622\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2014\/08\/toad.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100295\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image credit: Hugo Claessen, CC BY-SA 2.5 https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>A South American frog whose young erupt from the mother\u2019s back. Called (confusingly) the Surinam toad, it is the most un-frog-like frog you are ever likely to see, if you can see it at all.<\/p><p>Reproduction is weird too. While she is laying up to 100 eggs, the male fertilises them. The sticky spawn is then caught on the female\u2019s back and the male spreads it out with gentle stokes of his rear legs. Within 24 hours the eggs sink into the spongy flesh, eventually becoming embedded and sealed over. Safe under her skin, they hatch and complete their development to tadpoles. <\/p><p>Once they near emergence, the female’s thin skin bulges and pulsates with the struggles of the impatient froglets within. The day comes when she gives a shrug and the cells rupture, releasing tiny but perfectly formed Surinam toads into the world.<\/p><p>Clay robber frog<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1003\" height=\"961\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2014\/08\/Clay-robber-frog.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-100303\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">By Felipe Gomes – http:\/\/calphotos.berkeley.edu, CC BY-SA 2.5, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=6372347<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>The clay robber frog in Amazonian Brazil is not as silent as it appears. It has been reported as screaming very loudly to put off potential predators – but as it does it in ultrasound humans have been unable to hear it – until now…<\/p><p>Here is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/amphibians\/can-frogs-scream\">why frogs scream<\/a>?<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-discover-more-weird-and-wonderful-wildlife\">Discover more weird and wonderful wildlife<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/weird-animals\">15 weirdest animals: meet the weird freaks and oddballs of the natural world<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/weirdest-birds\">Weirdest birds: meet 12 strange and weird wonders of the avian world<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/plant-facts\/fungi\/weird-fungi\">Weirdest fungi in the world, from dead man’s fingers to ‘zombie fungi’<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/fish\/weirdest-fish\">Weirdest fish: 12 of the strangest fish in the world<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/plant-facts\/weirdest-plants\">Weirdest plants in the world: Discover some of the world’s wackiest flora<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Discover the weird and wonderful oddballs from the world of frogs <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42564,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly.jpg",2106,1424,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly-300x203.jpg",300,203,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly-768x519.jpg",768,519,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly-1024x692.jpg",800,541,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly-1536x1039.jpg",1536,1039,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/10-weirdest-and-strangest-frogs-you-probably-never-heard-of-or-imagined-existed-from-ultrasonic-screamers-and-the-hairy-to-a-frog-that-can-fly-2048x1385.jpg",2048,1385,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Discover the weird and wonderful oddballs from the world of frogs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}