Category: Amphibians
This species of frog is completely aquatic and has no tongue or teeth. They shove food into their mouth and down their throats using their hands, or suck in their food (which can be almost anything) using a hyobranchial pump system. They are common in the ponds and rivers in the south-eastern portion of Sub-Saharan Africa, and are also popular as aquarium pets.
Find more information about the African Clawed Frog at Wikipedia and Reptiles Magazine.
An Ample Amphibian
Before reptiles and mammals appeared to challenge amphibian supremacy on the land, amphibians were much larger. But while they have shrunk in size over the last 315 million years, the Chinese Giant Salamander never got the memo: at up to 5.9 feet in length and 66lbs, this amphibian is longer than your dog, and probably weighs at least as much! Compare that to Paedophryne amanuensis, the world’s smallest frog (and smallest vertebrate) who is the size of a house fly! Due to habitat loss, environmental changes, and over-hunting/collecting, the Chinese giant Salamander is critically endangered, though conservation efforts to save it are underway today.
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