South African Rain Frog - Fattest Round Ball of Frog

The South African (or Cape) Rain Frog lives in dry territories in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The frog is not very long only reaching about an inch and a half (or 3 cm) but it is one of the fattest frogs around. Not that it's really fat but just very round by design. And that is before it starts to huff and puff and fill up with air. It has a short nose and sturdy legs to support its big round body. Like many other slimy amphibians this species has warty bumps on its back. It has variable patterns and coloration all over its body. The tiny rotund creature may make a squealing vocalization.

The “rain frog” lives where rain comes very rarely. It may wait for months and months in a burrow without going out in the heat until it rains. That is its chance to go out and gorge on insects and small vertebrate. It is of course only this time when the frog is upout of its burrow feasting that pictures can be taken which may explain why it appears so rotund when seen.

When the male feels ready to mate he emits a croaking chirp to call the attention offemales within his range. Once a mate is found the two stick together (literally) while mixing secretions until a jelly mass with eggs is produced. The jelly mass then incubates in a burrow and the young mini frogs hatch straight out of the jelly sack onto the dry earth without going through a free-swimming, tadpole stage at all. This is a necessary adaption because ponds cannot be found in the dry landscape where they live.