The Surinam horned frog (''Ceratophrys cornuta''), also known as Amazonian horned frog, is a bulky

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

measuring up to found in the northern part of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. It has an exceptionally wide mouth, and has horn-like projections above its eyes. Females lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time, and wrap them around aquatic

plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...

. The frog eats other frogs,

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

, lizards, and mice.

Tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found ...

s of the Surinam horned frog attack each other (and tadpoles from other species) soon after being hatched. This species was once considered the same species as ''

Ceratophrys ornata The Argentine horned frog (''Ceratophrys ornata''), also known as the Argentine wide-mouthed frog, ornate horned frog, ornate horned toad, or the ornate pacman frog, is a species of frog in the family Ceratophryidae. The species is endemic to Sou ...

''. This dispute was later settled because the Surinam Horned frog inhabits a different habitat than its smaller cousin and does not interbreed with it in the wild (but will do so in captivity). This species has been known to prey upon the other species of horned frog, especially the northern race of ''Ceratophrys ornata''.

Gallery

Image:Ceratophrys cornuta - 3.jpg,
Image:Ceratophrys cornuta - frog - 4.jpg,
File:Ceratophrys cornuta 01.jpg, Burying behaviour File:Cornuta_side_view_web.jpg, File:Ceratophrys_cornuta_skeleton_front.jpg,

References

* Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is of least concern * Animal, Smithsonian Institution, 2005, pg. 445 *Ditmar's Reptiles of the World: 1937

External links

Ceratophrys Amphibians described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Amphibians of Brazil Amphibians of Colombia Amphibians of Ecuador Amphibians of French Guiana Amphibians of Guyana Amphibians of Peru Amphibians of Suriname {{hyloidea-stub