Goliath is the largest frog in the world.

People are interested in the world of fauna and who and how it is represented. For example, what are its biggest and smallest members, who lives the longest and who eats the most? There is hardly a person who would not be curious to know what the largest frog in the world is, where it lives and what are the features of its life activity. Such a creature is really present in the wild, and they call it Conraua goliath frog (Conraua goliath).

The largest frog

The images show that the goliath does not bear its name for nothing - this frog is truly impressive in size. Tribes that live near its habitat, affectionately call these frogs "sons". This is because an adult goliath reaches the size of a normal infant. Interestingly, but unlike their relatives, for whom the swamp is a natural habitat, goliaths "bypass" such reservations. They settle only where the water is crystal clear, and this is one of the reasons why so many people hunt for them.

Habitat

The largest frog in the world, like many other exotic animals, is native to Africa. More precisely, it lives in its western part, in the tropics of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

The goliath lives exclusively on the banks and under the shadow of waterfalls of rivers. The largest frog in the world is an amphibian creature that needs to constantly maintain a certain temperature of its body (the air temperature in its habitat should not be lower than 22 degrees Celsius). Therefore, it is vital for her to always be surrounded by moisture. Goliath avoids open, sunlit places.

When the largest goliath frog is not in the water, it sits on rocks, blending in with their gray coloring. This is how it gets protection from its enemies. To get a grip on the stones slippery from the water, it seems difficult, but the goliath frog sits on them quite confidently. Help her in this special pads-suckers, located on the front of her fingers. Participate in this process and hind legs, equipped with special membranes.

Despite its impressive size, the goliath leaps into the water lightning fast at the slightest sign of danger. It is able to control the territory within 40 meters, and it is quite difficult to get close to an adult goliath frog. Having jumped into the water, the frog stays there for up to 15 minutes, and then comes back to land. At the same time above the water first show the nose and eyes, and then the surface of the body.

Nutrition

The largest frog in the world feeds on scorpions, insects, worms, small rodents and birds. It goes hunting at night, jumping out of the water for the prey. It should be noted that the frog's jump can reach 3 meters in length. Such a "record" costs the frog very large energy costs. Therefore, after the hunt, she needs a lot of time to rest to replenish the spent energy.

Breeding

Females of the largest frog on the planet lay eggs in the off-season, when nature "rests" from the incessantly pouring streams of water from the sky. For this she needs 6 days, for which one individual can "give" up to 10 thousand eggs, each of which reaches the size of a decent pea.

From the egg hatches a tadpole with an average length of 8 mm. For 70 days he must "transform" into a normal frog, losing the tail and gills. And during this time, the tadpole can feed exclusively on plants. Interestingly, for 45 days of his life, he grows to 48 mm, that is, weight gain and increase in growth occur, we can say, rapidly.

As for the parameters of an adult frog, its length can be 30 cm, and weight - more than 3 kg.

Threats to the giant frog

The main threat to the life of the frog comes both directly from man himself and from the consequences of his "management" in its habitat.

The goliath frog has long been the object of persecution by gourmets, collectors and other lovers of exotics. Some capture it to sell it to restaurants or to cook it themselves. Others hunt for an outlandish trophy or a specimen for their terrariums. It should be noted that all attempts to breed goliaths in captivity have failed.

"Suffer" also these giant frogs from commercial logging of tropical forests, which are the habitat of its habitat. Thus, due to the destruction of trees, the area where the frogs live is reduced by several thousand hectares annually. In addition, unclean water resources, into which poachers dump chemicals to catch fish, pose a threat to its life.

If you do not count local tribes, whose representatives can hunt for frogs to sell it to a restaurant, then the greatest danger is posed by tourists who are eager to taste frog meat. The meat of these representatives is also considered very useful for pregnant women.