Stats

Lifespan: 5-8 yrs
Size: Tiny
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Cathemeral
Social: Solitary
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa
Movement: Swimming
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Rare

About

A tiny fully aquatic frog native to Central Africa that never leaves the water, darting to the surface every few minutes to gulp air with its rudimentary lungs. It lacks eyelids and visible ears, sensing the world instead through a lateral-line system that detects vibrations in the water.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
2.
tadpole
A gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
3.
juvenile
A near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
4.
adult
Fully grown at adult size, breathing air.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Pipidae
Genus: Hymenochirus
Species: Hymenochirus boettgeri