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African river
African bullfrog
Pyxicephalus adspersus
One of the biggest frogs in the world: olive green, heavy and wide-mouthed, appearing in numbers after rain.
- Size
- Up to 24cm long: as big as a dinner plate
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Savanna pools and flooded grassland in southern and eastern Africa
My spotter's list
Leaps after you in heavy hops. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the bullfrog
SizeA giant among frogs
A male can weigh more than a kilogram. Unusually for frogs, males are much bigger than females.
FatherA father on guard
The male guards his tadpoles fiercely, and will even dig a channel to let them reach deeper water.
DroughtSleeping through drought
In the dry season it buries itself and makes a waterproof cocoon of its own skin, and can stay there for a year or more.
TeethA frog with fangs
It has tooth-like spikes on its lower jaw, and will eat almost anything it can fit in its mouth.
RainOut with the rain
Heavy rain brings bullfrogs out to breed in shallow pools that last only a few weeks.
AgeA long life
African bullfrogs can live for more than twenty years.
The real thing
Photos of the bullfrog
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
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Out and aboutHow to spot one
They appear, sometimes in hundreds, in shallow pools straight after the first heavy rains, and are gone again within weeks.
Lend a handHow to help
The temporary pools they breed in are easily drained or built over. Keeping those pools matters more than anything else.
Following youLadybird
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African savanna
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