African bullfrog
Pyxicephalus adspersus
— Where the name comes from
Pyxicephalus is “box head”, from pyxís, the casket, and kephalḗ: the skull is massive and squared, and on the lower jaw it carries three pointed bony projections that work as teeth. Adspersus means “sprinkled”, for the blotches of the back. It is one of the few frogs in the world that can really bite.
— Facts
- Group
- Amphibians · Amphibia
- Order
- Frogs and toads
- Habitat
- Savannah, temporary pools, seasonally flooded grassland
- Range
- Southern and eastern Africa
- Size
- 11–24 cm, 0.4–1.4 kg
- Diet
- Insects, rodents, small birds, snakes, other frogs
- Lifespan
- 35 years
— Characteristics
- 01
The male is much larger than the female, which is rare among frogs.
- 02
It spends the dry season buried inside a cocoon of dead skin.
- 03
It emerges at the first heavy rain and breeds within a few nights.
— What sets it apart
The male is a father, and he works with a spade. He guards the shoal of tadpoles for weeks, driving off anything that comes near — birds, mongooses, people — and when the pool starts to dry he digs a channel with his hind legs towards the nearest water, letting his own young drain away before the mud sets. He has been filmed doing it over several metres, and it is one of very few documented cases of active parental care among amphibians.
