Category: Amphibians
The Pixie Frog, also known as the African Bullfrog, is the largest species of frog in South Africa. These giants will inhale any prey they can fit in their mouth (even small mammals such as mice). They have very strong hind legs that they use to burrow into the ground, where they can go into a kind of hibernation (called aestivation) during dry summer months. In this state, the Pixie Frog is able to survive by making itself a watertight cocoon that prevents evaporation of body fluids.
Pixie Frog / African Bullfrog Related Links:
Caecilians: The Limbless Enigma
Caecilians are amphibians with long, limbless bodies that resemble worms or snakes more than frogs or salamanders. Their name means “blind ones,” a reference to their tiny, skin-covered (or in some cases, non-existent) eyes - which probably don’t get much use, as they spend most their lives burrowing underground. Caecilians are unusual for amphibians in that 75% of them give birth to live young, oftentimes, fully formed. There are also a few species where the mother actually grows a layer of nutritious, fatty skin that is eaten off by her own young, which is analogous to breastfeeding in mammals.
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