THE ANIMAL FILES

Goliath frog

Conraua goliath

A riverbank pool can be a frog-built nursery.

The goliath frog's large adults live beside rivers, but their eggs and tadpoles are not proportionally giant. Reported nest pools range from cleaned natural pockets to excavated depressions. Their location creates different risks from floods and drying.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Goliath frog
Image: jeanlouisamiet · Commons · CC BY 4.0
Large adults, ordinary beginnings
Eggs and tadpoles are not proportionally enormous.[1]
Three kinds of nursery pool
Pools can be cleaned or excavated.[1]
Floods and drying
Different pool positions have different risks.[1]

Large adults, ordinary beginnings

Adults have strongly webbed toes and granular upper skin. Their eggs and tadpoles are comparable in size to those of other frogs, despite the enormous difference in adult size.[1]

Three kinds of nursery pool

Recorded nests include cleared rock pools, existing riverbank washouts and depressions excavated in gravel. These are modifications of a river-edge environment, not constructed cups of twigs like a bird nest. Pools may be reused for more than one cohort.[1]

Floods and drying

Pools within the riverbed can be exposed to rising flows, while more separate depressions can face drying. Moving a nursery away from the river therefore changes the balance of these two risks. Feeding studies also record both terrestrial and aquatic prey, with differences among frog sizes.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Does a giant adult require giant eggs?

No. Its eggs and tadpoles are comparable to those of other frogs.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why might moving a nursery farther from the main flow solve one problem but create another?

Reveal the explanation

Reduced exposure to floods can come with greater risk of the pool drying.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Goliath frog (cited revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Conraua goliath

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

American bullfrogA pond chorus is a moving social scene.Aquarana catesbeiana ↗Marsh frogThe tadpole’s menu is not the adult frog’s menu.Pelophylax ridibundus ↗Common frogOne pond, two very different menus.Rana temporaria ↗