Amphibians: Goliath Frog

Range: Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in western Africa Habitat: swift rivers and waterfalls in dense rain forests

Goliath means REALLY BIG!

We're not kidding—the goliath frog is the largest frog in the world. Measuring up to 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) in length and weighing up to 7.2 pounds (3.3 kilograms), the goliath frog is as big as some house cats! It doesn't start out so big, though. The tadpole of the goliath frog is the same size as the tadpole of an average frog but just keeps growing. The adult looks a lot like other frogs as well, just a whole lot bigger.

A frog is a frog

Goliath frogs are found in small ranges in the rain forests at the equator of western Africa, near swift-moving rivers and waterfalls. These giant amphibians need to be near water much like the average frog. They come out at night and sit on river rocks to look for food. An adult goliath frog eats the same types of food that other frogs do: insects, crustaceans, fish, and other amphibians. However, one researcher found a bat in the stomach of one goliath frog!

Not so parental instincts

When goliath frogs reach maturity and have babies, they do things a little differently from most animals. The male builds a nest of rocks and gravel near a riverbank and wrestles with other males to breed with females. The wrestling and rock moving may be why males are larger than females: this is unusual for frogs. Then the female lays thousands of eggs in the nest. That is where the parenting stops: they don’t even wait around to watch the eggs hatch. The tadpoles are left to fend for themselves and find food. Goliath frog tadpoles are very picky eaters and only eat a certain plant found near waterfalls and the banks of swift rivers. This could explain why this frog species is only found in one tiny location on Earth!

Where did everybody go?

Goliath frogs have been around for about 250 million years! They are one of only a few amphibians still alive that lived on Earth before the dinosaurs. But if the goliath frog has been around for millions of years, why are they endangered now? A lot has changed for the goliath frog over the years. Major contributors to their decline are, unfortunately, humans. Many people enjoy eating frogs, and a goliath frog makes a big meal. Even though it is now against the law to hunt the goliath frog, poachers still do in order to sell the delicious meat. The large frogs are also losing their forest habitat due to farming, logging, and human settlements.
These activities are also adding extra soil to the frogs' breeding streams. Researchers are finding that the adult frogs weigh less than expected these days, and there is also concern that all the large adults are being hunted, leaving only "teenagers." If this is so, soon there may not be any adult goliath frogs to have babies!

More studies are needed

Although these giant frogs have been around longer than humans, we still have a lot to learn about them. For example, how many years do they live? Is there more than one species of goliath frog? Scientists are studying these creatures in the wild and learning new things about them even today. They hope that what they learn will help us find answers so this amazing frog can be saved.

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-goliath_frog.html