Pixie Frog

Pyxicephalus adspersus

Amphibian

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about pixie frogs. Pixie frog may give the impression of a tiny, fragile creature - but this is misleading. Also known as African bullfrogs, pixies frogs are some of the largest living frogs on our planet. They’re found in southern Africa, and they spend a large portion of their lives sleeping.

Unlike many frog species, the male pixie frogs are larger than the females. They can be more than nine inches (229 millimeters) long and weigh as much as three pounds (1.4 kilograms). A pixie frog could easily fill up a dinner plate - and, in fact, they do! These frogs are considered a delicacy by people as well as predatory birds, monitor lizards, and turtles. Turtles tend to specifically feed on pixie frog tadpoles.

Pixie frogs breed during the rainy season. If more than two and a half inches (64 millimeters) of rain has fallen over the course of a day or two, then the frogs know it’s time to get busy. Male pixie frogs will set up in groups in pools of water. The younger, smaller males will circle a larger, more aggressive male. He is the dominant male of the pond and is usually the one who will get the opportunity to breed with the females. Larger males will fight over this dominant position sometimes to the death, so the little guys just keep their distance.

Together, the males make loud, deep calls to attract females. Pixie frogs mate in the water, but the female lays her eggs above the water so that they’re fertilized before getting dunked. The female leaves shortly afterwards, but the big boy will stay and defend all the tadpoles in the area - it’s likely they’re all mostly his anyway including those from other pairings. The eggs hatch pretty much in unison within 48 hours, and the male will spend the next three weeks protecting the tadpoles as they develop into adults.

Of course, he can’t necessarily keep them safe from one another - or even himself from time to time. Pixie frogs have a voracious appetite and will unabashedly eat members of their own species, even their own family. Still, the male is a big help to his kids. As the season wears on, the land may become more and more dry, leaving pockets of water full of tadpoles cut off from the main pool. The male pixie frog will actually go in and make channels to the main pool of water so the young pixies don’t dry up.

In less than a month’s time from their conception, the freshly metamorphosed adult pixie frogs will venture from their birth pond and set off to eat other meals besides their brothers and sisters. Pixie frogs have spines in their lower jaws that act kind of like teeth to help the frogs capture prey. And, like pacman frogs, pixie frogs will eat just about anything they can get their giant mouths on! These frogs eat insects, fish, lizards, rodents, and even birds and snakes. There’s one report of a pixie frog eating more than fifteen baby spitting cobras in one sitting.

As impressive as their appetites can be, something potentially even more impressive about pixie frogs is that they spend most of their lives underground. When the rainy season comes to an end, the savannahs and desert-like regions where pixie frogs live begin to dry up. As amphibians, pixie frogs needs water; so, to compensate for the water quickly evaporating around them, the pixie frogs will create moisture retaining cocoons out of dead, shed layers of their skin and bury themselves underground. Their cocoons keep the frogs from drying out until the next rains come the following year - meaning pixie frogs can spend months sleeping underground. This trait may be part of the reason these frogs can live for decades.

For more facts on pixie frogs, check out the links in the description. Thank you to king kirb for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!