The Namaqua rain frog or Namaqua short-headed frog (''Breviceps namaquensis'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s in the family

Brevicipitidae Brevicipitidae or rain frogs is a small family of frogs found in eastern and southern Africa. As of 2020 contains 37 species in 5 genera. eb application 2013. Berkeley, CaliforniaBrevicipitidae AmphibiaWeb, available at http://amphibiaweb.org/. ...

. It is found in Namaqualand in western

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and extreme southern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

Identification

Adult frogs attain a body length of 46 mm (1.8 inches). The Namaqua rain frog has a squat, round body with a short, narrow head which has relatively large eyes, a flat face and narrow mouth. The limbs are short and stumpy and the fingers and toes lack webbing and adhesive discs. The upper body surface is brown with lighter brown to cream patches on the back and sides. These patches are occasionally fused together and may include irregular pairs of paravertebral patches. The underside is mainly smooth and white, but the skin is translucent in parts, and the throat area may be granular with dark markings around the jaw line. The frog is also almost indistinguishable from the

Desert rain frog The desert rain frog, web-footed rain frog, or Boulenger's short-headed frog (''Breviceps macrops'') is a species of frog in the family Brevicipitidae. It is found in Namibia and South Africa. Its natural habitat is the narrow strip of sandy sho ...

. Breviceps namaquensis 1.jpg, Side View of Breviceps namaquensis

Behaviour

When disturbed, these frogs have the ability to inflate their bodies dramatically and squeak as a defence mechanism to deter predators. Breeding activity has been recorded in winter, spring and summer. They spend most of their time underground, surfacing after the rains to feed on insects. Its eggs are laid in underground chambers and are covered in a thick, viscous, jelly-like substance. Once the eggs hit tadpole stage, the jelly softens into a fluid in which they live until they fully metamorphose into frogs (absorbing nutrients from the egg yolk as they grow).

Habitat and conservation

It is a

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

frog that inhabits scrub-covered sandy areas in the succulent

karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

biome. Development is direct (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage) and does require an aquatic habitat. It is a locally abundant frog, but it can experience some

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

because of agricultural expansion in the south of its range. It is present in several protected areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2242089 Breviceps Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Namibia Amphibians of South Africa Amphibians described in 1926 Taxa named by John Hyacinth Power Taxonomy articles created by Polbot