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OLogy Cards > Goliath frog

OLOGY CARD 122
Series: Animal

Goliath frog

Tipping the scales at more than 7 pounds, the Goliath is the largest frog in the world. Just two of these frogs weigh as much as a bowling ball. Because this slimy amphibian is so heavy, it can't jump very high. When it's hungry, it hides in marshes and wetlands and waits for insects, newts, and fish. People have been known to pay more than $3,000 for this endangered amphibian.

Scientific name: Conraua goliath
Size: 13 inches long
Weight: up to 8 pounds
Diet: insects, crustaceans, and other small frogs
Habitat: rivers and rain forests of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and western Africa
Characteristics: green with big mouth; world's largest frog
Threats: habitat destruction, overhunting, and capture for pet trade

What sound does a Goliath frog make?

ribbet-ribbet

rooby-rooby-roo

None. These enormous frogs are silent.

Correct!

The Goliath frog is the big, silent type. This frog doesn't make any croaking sounds because it doesn't have a vocal sac.

olc_122_goliath_frog_stumper

The Goliath frog's enormous ping-pong ball-like eyes help them:

swallow prey

jump higher

run faster

Correct!

Goliath frogs use their big eyes to help them catch and swallow prey. After this frog swallows, it closes its eyes. This action presses its eyeballs against the roof of its mouth. The eyeballs, in turn, push the unlucky victim down the frog's throat.

The main threat to Goliath frogs' survival is the destruction of their habitat.

Fact
OR
Fiction
?

Fact

Much of the rain forest land in west central Africa has been cleared to create farmland. As a result, Goliath frogs face extinction.

Baby Goliath frogs hop right out of their eggs when they are ready to hatch.

Fact
OR
Fiction
?

Fiction

Like most frogs, Goliaths lay their eggs under water. Tadpoles hatch -- eventually changing into frogs. Goliath tadpoles are about the same size as tadpoles of much smaller frogs.

Image credits: main image, courtesy of AMNH, M.Shanley Hall of Reptiles.

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