What are the huge amphibians in the world? Except for the giant salamander, people may not be able to say much, in fact, there is a very large amphibian in the rainforests of Africa. In 1906, the famous amphibian scientist Borenger discovered a frog in the rainforest of wild Africa, with a body length of up to 30 centimeters, a weight of 3 kilograms, spread its hind legs, almost 1 meter long, eyes up to 2.5 centimeters in diameter, and may stand taller than a 4-year-old.
Borenger was overjoyed, it was the rare giant amphibian he had ever seen, and it was the largest frog he had ever seen. Later, this frog was named Conraua goliath, which can also be called African giant frog, giant slippery frog, etc., it is currently the largest frog on Earth!
The Goliath frog grew into a "Big Mac", but lived itself as an endangered species.
The Goliath frog at birth is actually not large, like the little frog we commonly see, the little Goliath frog burrows out of the small egg, just a little, with a tail. But over time, ordinary frogs can no longer keep up with the growth rate of the Goliath frog, and the Goliath frog grows bigger and bigger, can grow to the size of a kitten, and stands up even taller than a three- or four-year-old child.
Such a large size, combined with a somewhat scary body color, usually has a green back and yellow/orange on the abdomen and ventral sides of the limbs. In addition, the skin on the back and the top of the limbs is granular. At first glance, you will wonder if the toad spirit in "The Legend of the White Snake" is really alive.
However, it is such a kind of "Big Mac" with a bit of horror in the frogs, but in the end, it does not have the survival competitiveness of ordinary frogs all over the world, and the huge size makes their living space very small.
At present, the Goliath frog only occupies a small living space in the world, from the rainforest of southwestern Cameroon to Equatorial Guinea, and they cannot be too far from the water source, and the requirements for water quality are particularly high, must be clean, rich in oxygen, slightly acidic, and the temperature is usually around 19 degrees.
And because of its large size, the Goliath frog has also become people's food, and a large Goliath frog can be enough for a good meal for the family. Moreover, since the Goliath frog is the largest frog in the world, the Goliath frog has also attracted the attention of zoos and many private buyers around the world. In Africa, a 3-kilogram Goliath frog can sell for 2,000-3,000 CFA francs (about $4), and local people are so willing to do this kind of work, so illegal smuggling abroad is common. The Goliath frog is also living harder and less.
The food of the Goliath frog is not simple, it can eat snakes and bats.
Similar to other frogs around the world, the Goliath frog is carnivorous, comes out at night, sits on rocks by the river to feed, and will eat a variety of creatures such as insects, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, amphibians, including smaller frogs; However, because the Goliath frog has a wide mouth and small teeth on the upper jaw, it can prevent food from slipping out of the mouth and can swallow relatively large food, so the Goliath frog will also eat crabs, and even eat the frog's natural enemy - snakes.
What's even more shocking is that the Goliath frog can also catch bats in the sky, a surprising scene that scientists once discovered when dissecting a Goliath frog. It can be seen that the Goliath frog should be very sensitive to moving objects, and the ability of the tongue to retract is much greater than that of other frogs, after all, bats are known as the dominant animals of the night sky.
Look for a "wife" instead of croaking, but instead whistling.
By the pond in summer, we can listen to the sound of frogs, and the frogs are looking for suitable partners by vibrating their vocal sacs; But far away in the rainforests of Africa, we hear not croaking, but sounds like long whistles. The Goliath frog has degenerated the vocal sac commonly found in frogs, and instead attracts the opposite sex directly by opening its mouth and making a whistle-like sound.
Before breeding, the marriage room will be repaired, and the strong body will weigh 4 pounds of stones.
Contrary to the huge size of the Goliath frog, the Goliath frog has a very restrained personality, as soon as it hears a human voice, this big guy will quickly jump more than 3 meters high, flutter into the water and hide, so it is very difficult to observe them carefully, but if it is in the breeding period then it will be simpler.
At this time, the male Goliath frog will be busy, they must hurry to build a marriage room, and this is also the time when the male Goliath frog shows his strength to the female and wins the favor of the other party.
They will use their strong muscles to dig a depression in the river, clean up impurities, and then find suitable stones for building a wedding house from the river bank or water, and lift the stone to the selected location and form a dam-like circle as their marriage room. And the stones they choose are not actually light, sometimes these stones may weigh up to 4 pounds, close to or exceed their own weight.
When their own marriage room is built, the male begins the courtship song, they will open their mouths and make a long whistle, quietly waiting for the arrival of the female Goliath frog, and when the object of their favorite appears, the male Goliath frog will immediately grab the female and complete the task of breeding offspring, and the female frog can lay hundreds to thousands of eggs at a time.
Later, the male Goliath frog will leave, and the female will stay in the marriage room to protect her children and expand the marriage room to the periphery, cleaning up the surrounding impurities that block the view. Because although a dam-like marriage house can indeed block some of the fish and shrimp that feed on frog eggs, and also prevent the eggs from being washed away by the water, it will still face bird-like predators. But females don't stay watch all day long, they appear at nightfall and then leave before dawn.
The Goliath frog can be said to be a very unique existence in frogs, without a vocal sac, but instead makes a sound through its mouth and mouth, which is strict with the living environment, can eat snakes and bats, and even builds a marriage house to breed offspring, which is very special. But it is precisely because of this specialness that even though the Goliath frog can live for 15 years in the wild and 21 years in captivity, they have become a rare species, and the IUCN lists the Goliath frog as an endangered species.
References (and authors):
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2019.1642528
Marvin Schäfer,Sedrick Junior Tsekané,F. Arnaud M. Tchassem,Sanja Drakulić,Marina Kameni,Nono L. Gonwouo &Mark-Oliver Rödel.