Jul 12, 2008

Devourer of Termites

The turtle frog is a head-first burrowing amphibian native to the southwest tip of Australia. A few items of note: they live in the sand beneath logs but usually not near water, they have the largest eggs of all Australian frogs, their tadpoles develop completely into frogs while still in the egg, and they've got tiny heads.

But my favorite factoid about this little frog is that it is a very discriminating eater. It dines only on termites. It is such a voracious eater that it can eat 400 at one sitting. That would be like my small-headed brother eating several large pizzas without having to push back from the table. Oh, wait, he already does that. And he's got moist, pebbly skin, lurks under logs, and shies away from human interaction. I need to investigate this.

Thanks for the article, Wendy.

Photo source: Brad Maryan via Frogs.org.au















Photo source: Gerry Marantelli / Amphibian Research Centre via Frogs.org.au
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 13, 2008

    Cute face, ugly body

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 14, 2008

    What the heck? They are like bloated frogs, with a non-frog-like head. Geez, those little guys need to cut back. Look what 400 termites in one sitting does to them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ArachnophileJuly 15, 2008

    Truly one of the most alien looking creatures we've ever seen here but then, I think most arthropods look utterly normal.

    ReplyDelete

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