Bell's Horned Frog
Ceratophrys ornata
Amphibia
VULNERABLE
Stats
- Lifespan
- 6-10 yrs
- Size
- Large
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Activity
- Nocturnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Freshwater wetland
- Range
- South America
- Movement
- Hopping
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Vulnerable
About
The Argentine Horned Frog is a stout ambush predator nicknamed the "Pac-Man frog" for its enormous mouth — it can swallow prey nearly its own size, including other frogs, mice, and insects. Adults are vividly patterned in green with red-brown markings, camouflaging them perfectly against leaf litter on the South American forest floor.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA jelly-coated egg is laid in water and develops over days into an aquatic larva.
- 2.tadpoleA gilled tadpole swims and grazes on algae, slowly absorbing its tail and growing limbs.
- 3.juvenileA near-adult amphibian leaves the water with new legs and lungs, smaller than the mature form.
- 4.adultFully grown at adult size, breathing air.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Ceratophryidae
- Genus
- Ceratophrys
- Species
- Ceratophrys ornata