Impurest's Guide to Animals - Issue #79 Goliath Frog

Well we have another Impurest Cheese feat, in this case catching a wood mouse with her bare hands. Fortunately the wood mouse doesn’t cartwheel, like the Moroccan Flic-Flac Spider last week or it may have been harder to catch. This week we have a super-sized request from @xwraith about an animal mentioned many times before in this blog series. Hope you guys enjoy.

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Issue #79 – Goliath Frog

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

Class – Amphibia

Order – Anura

Family – Conrauidae

Genus – Conraua

Species – goliath

Related Species – The Goliath Frog is one of six member of the Conrauidae family, which are more colloquially known as ‘Slippery Frogs’ (1)

Range

The Frog King

With a nose to vent length of 30cm, and a leg length that is considerably more, the Goliath Frog is the largest extant species of frog in the world. A fully grown Goliath Frog is so large, that it is 50% larger than the second largest frog species in the world, the Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) in both maximum length and weight. The eye width alone is 2.5cm wide and are around 5cm apart (2), that distance alone is larger than a large number of frog species. In addition to their size, the Goliath Frog is made conspicuous by its bright orange underbelly, which contrasts heavily with its green granulated skin.

Despite their size, the majority of the Goliath Frog’s diet consists of insects and river crabs, although they will happily feed on other frog species including smaller Goliath Frogs. The species faces little predation from any species other than man (Homo sapiens sapines), most because of its large size and its preference for living in only the cleanest fastest flowing rivers, which are unable to support aquatic predators large enough to eat it.

During the mating season the male Goliath Frog whistles, since being mute he can’t croak and has to rely on changing air pressure to make a sound, to attract a female who then lays her eggs in shallow water for the male to fertilise. Upon hatching, the herbivorous tadpoles feed on one specialised species of algae, Dicraea warmingii (3), until they metamorphose into adults. These froglets, as well as the tadpoles and eggs are no larger than those of European and American species, it’s only in adulthood over fifteen years later that the species grows to such a large size.

Five Fun Goliath Frog Facts

The Goliath Frog may be the biggest extant frog in the world, it’s believed that the extinct genus Beelzebufo ampinga could have attained a nose to vent length that was 25% larger than the largest recorded Goliath Frog specimen

As expected, the Goliath Frog’s massive legs aid in producing massive leaps, with the longest measured at ten foot, this distance was approximately ten times the frog’s body length.

While content to mostly dine on insects, one Goliath Frog was reported to have a fully grown bat in its stomach.

To facilitate egg laying in rapid streams, male Goliath Frogs use their strength to excavate cavities in the river bed, so their eggs don’t get washed away.

The local Mbo people, believe the Goliath Frog to be wizards of the sacred waterfalls, and associate sightings to be a good omen, especially to pregnant women (4).

References

1. www.arkive.org

2. Sabater-Pi, J. (1985). "Contribution to the biology of the Giant Frog (Conraua goliath, Boulenger)". Amphibia-Reptilia6 (1): 143–153

3. http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-scientific_name=Conraua+goliath

4. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/resources_geo.html

Picture References

1. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rVkACV61lJw/TmHM-zbGEyI/AAAAAAAACc8/tLoarc8yn3c/s1600/true-wildlife-goliath+frog-4.jpg

2. http://bushwarriors.org.s130414.gridserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/geographic-range-of-the-goliath-frog.png

3. http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/9F/9F11CB8C-1292-4DC1-A92E-E7D8F3692432/Presentation.Large/Goliath-frog-being-held-and-compared-to-the-tiny-reed-frog.jpg

4. http://globalwildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Goliath-Frog_2_edited.jpg

And with a massive bound, and a dose of good fortune thrown in too, the Goliath Frog leaps out of the spotlight to make room for next week’s hospitable issue about a kind old inkeeper. But until then critic, comment and discuss future species to cover as well as checking out past issues in Impurest’s Bestiary.

Many Thanks

Impurest Cheese

: O

Frogs are awesome

@cbishop,@laflux,@ostyo,@wildvine,@darling_luna,@samimista,@cattlebattle,@xwraith,

@cgoodness,@mslola,@squares,@scorpion2501,@darthaznable,@scattered316,@bumpyboo,

@knightsofdarkness2,@wolverine08,@dboyrules2011,@joshuadbr,@nighthunder,@johnjo719,

@itsomething,@delphic,@dngn4774,@bruxae,@jaken7,@ccraft,@wim_garnet,@claymore1998,

@ironspiderchan45,@dccomicsrule2011,@hylian,@transcendence,@rd189,@unbreakable_fs4,

@quinnofthestoneage,@fuzzylittlerodent,@the_kidd,@rd189,@thetruebarryallen,@thevivas, @korrasami,@swordmasterd,@veitha, @thedandyman,@infinityball,@scavengerfist,@masterkungfu, @orpheus_knightfall, @themongoose,@rocketraccoonthingyand @JetiiMitra

When did Kermit get buff?

Frogs eat anything that fits, so eating a bat isnt something im surprised about

@cgoodness: Yeah except how did a frog in a river catch a live bat? That's the mystery that needs solving...

@darling_luna:Yeah they are

You never got round to telling me the morphological difference between a Toad and a Frog :p.

And I never knew that Goliath Frogs where so fond of Crabs. I thought they would prefer eating vertebrates over them to be honest :p

@orpheus_knightfall: Perhaps, the Pokémon in joke has been long established though, and I still ocassionally get an 'oh it looks like a Pokémon pop up' in some issues

@impurestcheese: ^-^

@laflux: For some reason they prefer invertabrates, as for toads, it's a genetic thing, all true toads are in the genus Bufo, anything outside that genus is just a frog in masqurade

I loved frogs when I was a kid. That never really went away.

@darling_luna: Glad you enjoyed it.

In addition, I'm open to requests at the moment, since I'm about to start four weeks of energy sapping bat surveys

@xwraith: Yeah I know how you feel, I'm glad you requested this issue it was fun to cover old Goliath

Damn frogs, lol.

@impurestcheese: I'll see If i can think of something ^-^

@impurestcheese: You're quite welcome.

That's one big frog

@darling_luna: That invitation is for everyone reading, seriously I'm going to be walking weary throughout the entirety of August, so any suggestions to make my life easier would be most appreciated

@dboyrules2011: Would you prefer horrible worms? ;-)

@xwraith:Thanks

@quinnofthestoneage: Yeah, with legs outstretched the male is almost three foot long

@impurestcheese: Sure as hell would. :)

@dboyrules2011: Then next weeks issue should please you then

Kermit all like, steroids are good

Excellent as always, 10 foot reaps, how high can it jump?

@impurestcheese: I'll be looking forward to it then. ^_^

@rd189: Yeah it's quite easy being green when your buff enough to beat up anyone who annoys you

@the_kidd:No one has measured a vertical leap before, probably not very far to be honest, all the power is arranged to make the frog move forward not up

But if it's vertical leaps you are looking for...this caracal may amaze you with it's 10ft vertical jump

@dboyrules2011: If you say so...

@impurestcheese: Trust me.

@impurestcheese: Thanks, that video did amaze me. I mostly asked because I concerned if it jumps on people.

@dboyrules2011: Nope, last time someone said that I ended up with a skylark tattoed on my ankle.

@the_kidd:Nah it's mostly in reverse, with people jumping on the frogs. Goliath Frogs are endangered (as mentioned two issues ago) because they are extensively hunted for food and exotic pets.

@impurestcheese: Okay then. O_o

@dboyrules2011: Yep indeed

@impurestcheese: Still no match for the little David frog.

@ostyo: Yeah that would be the one in the guy in picture threes right hand

@impurestcheese: RIBBITing. :}

dayumn they're big........for a frog that is

@masterkungfu: Yeah I mean if it was a bear it would be tiny, but because it is a frog it's huge

@ficopedia:You know this species of frog is mute right?

I guess when you're that big, a whistle is all it takes to get the gals running. Or hopping.

Still, holy crap. That is a massive frog. I am kinda shocked at its size.

@impurestcheese: Great job with this! Very informative :)

@ms-lola: Yeah it is big, luckily it's not one of those frogs that is deaf as well as mute

@wolverine08:Cool thanks

A pun is a pun. :)

@ficopedia: Indeed

Cool. I have this one friend who's afraid of them frogs, so a prank involving this behemoth is not advisable. Dayum.

@scavengerfist: Yeah that might just backfire against you