Cool Facts- Nicknamed the hippo frog for obvious reasons, the Budgett’s frog is always smiling. Despite living in South America, their homes can get as cold as -13 degrees Celsius in the winter. During this time, the Budgett’s frog sheds off an extra layer of skin that prevents them from losing water in the extreme cold. These frogs are relatively aggressive and are not afraid to use their pseudo-fangs to deliver a strong bite to anyone foolish enough to wake them up. Their main threat is habitat loss, however their massive population is adapting to park ponds.
Red-Eyed Tree Frog: This species is best known for its striking colouration, which changes throughout their range. Individuals from the Northern end of their range in Mexico average 5 bars on their sides, while those from Panama average 9 bars. Froglets are able to change colour, and even their eggs are able to adapt to environmental conditions. If they sense a danger such as a snake, predatory wasp, or fungus, tadpoles can choose to immediately hatch and drop from the leaf on which the eggs are laid into the water below. (video) Which eggs hatch is chosen based on the source of the danger and can occur as soon as four days after the eggs are laid. Normally, eggs from a clutch hatch asynchronously approximately a week after fertilization, and tadpoles which fall out of the water can survive up to 20 hours. Males use the same vibrational sensing that the eggs do in territorial disputes, where they shake the branch they are on before wrestling.
Budgett's Frog: These South American frogs overwinter in underground burrows, where they hide in a cocoon of hardened skin to keep moist. An aggressive species, their tadpoles have nearly adult jaws, which they use to swallow their prey (sometimes other tadpoles) whole. As for adults, they puff up and screech loudly when threatened, going as far as to attack and bite the perceived danger. Males also have a dark blue throat (not visible in the image,) and all members of the species have a spade-like “tubercle” on their back legs that helps them dig.
today's funky frog of the day: the budgett's frog (Lepidobatrachus laevis)!!!!!!! they're also known as the hippo frog. a popular pet, they will puff up to appear larger when they feel threatened. they live in paraguay, bolivia, and argentina!
I have no idea why they are called Budgett's frogs (Lepidobatrachus laevis). They should be called 'smooth scaly frogs', which is the Latin translation of the name (even though Frank and Ramus [1995] called the genus 'Paraguay Horned Frogs' for some reason). They were described by John Samuel Budgett in 1899, and for some reason the common name refers to him, even though he also described another species, Lepidobatrachus asper (translates as 'rough scaly frog', which makes *total sense*, but for some reason the common name is 'Paraguay Horned Frog', which…doesn't make any sense, given that that is also the common name for the whole genus).
Other than this confusing aspect, they're great frogs. Comical of appearance, loud of voice, Wednesday of week, bulgy of eye—what's not to like‽
Can you spare a worm for this cute and hungry Budgett’s frog [Lepidobatrachus laevis]? These frogs are native to Paraguay and Bolivia, and are popular as pets due to their relatively easy care and unique appearance. Image by Yuyu Green.