Surinam Horned Frog
The Surinam Frog is a surprise from the first glance. Motionless in the water, you’d think it was a leaf or a rock, and that’s the idea! Its body is flat, its head is triangular, and its nostrils are at the end of two narrow tubes on its snout. The toad’s skin is pointy, rough, and colored a mottled brown, tan, or olive. Each finger on its forelimbs has a tiny, star-shaped tip, leading to the toad’s other name: star-fingered toad. Yet despite its unique appearance, the Surinam toad’s reproductive strategy is what sets this amphibian apart. It’s freaky, but amazing, too.
As weird as it looks, the Surinam Frog is perfectly camouflaged to live an aquatic life on muddy river bottoms in rainforest and flooded forest areas in South America. It looks like a lump of leaf litter rather than living wildlife! The Surinam Frog can measure between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) long, but it doesn’t look much like a meal, so predators may pass it by.
The Surinam Frog is an ambush hunter, lying patiently in wait for unsuspecting prey to pass by. The Frog eats mostly crustaceans, small fish, worms, and other invertebrates. When the Surinam Frog senses movement with its star-tipped fingers, it lunges forward and eats its prey in one gulp. The toad does not have teeth or a tongue, so its large mouth helps it swallow food whole.
Unlike other frogs, the Surinam Frog has an unusual way of reproducing. Males call to the females by making a clicking sound underwater. A willing female releases 60 to 100 eggs, and the male fertilizes them and pushes the eggs onto her back, where they stick to her skin. During the next few days, her skin grows up and around the eggs, forming a honeycomb structure of pockets, and eventually encloses them completely. After hatching, the young ride on her back for three to four months, continuing to develop under her skin.
When ready, the fully formed frogs push and squirm to loosen the female’s skin; the pockets on her back open up to reveal the snouts and waving feet of the froglets. When they’re ready, they pop out of their holes and head for the water’s surface to breathe and begin life on their own. The little frogs can start snapping at food right away, and don’t care if that food happens to be a sibling! The mother then sheds her skin, ready for the next breeding season
