- What is a frog when it’s not a frog but still is… Kind of.
Frogs and toads are pretty strange animals. They can breathe through their skin and undergo a complete bug-like metamorphosis, to begin with.
But some species push these critters firmly into the “freakshow” territory. Or would you consider turning our bones into swords or giving birth through your back normal behavior?
Yeah, that’s what we thought.
Here are 9 weird frogs and toads from around the world that are sure to boggle your mind.
10. Desert Rain Frog
You may be familiar with the desert rain frog, the amphibian viral sensation. A video of this cute little blob’s enraged scream has been watched on YouTube 24 million times.
But it’s not the adorable squeaks that make this guy weird. It’s the fact that it refuses to do most things frogs do.
Instead of hopping around, it slowly crawls around the desert floor. In fact, it can’t jump at all. It also completely skips the tadpole stage and comes out of the egg as a small but fully developed desert rain frog.
At least it still eats bugs.
9. Wallace’s Flying Frog
Well, you probably already guessed what this guy does. Many frogs are good at jumping, but Wallace’s flying frog is a real superstar at it.
It doesn’t really fly, though. Instead, it has massive membranes of skin between its toes it can use to glide distances upwards of 50 feet.
How’d that Toy Story quote go? This isn’t flying, this is falling with style?
Yeah, it’s kind of like that.
8. Pumpkin Toadlet
Unlike the desert rain frog, the pumpkin toadlet wants to do regular frog things. It just really, really sucks at them.
The pumpkin toadlet is one of the world’s smallest amphibians. It’s so small that its body doesn’t work quite right simply because of physics.
Their sense of balanced is so messed up that they don’t know how to land when they jump. They just kind of tumble to the ground like they’re drunk.
In addition, their ears are so tiny they can barely hear anything. They still croak to attract mates — but those mates are completely unable to hear it.
Pumpkin toadlets also skip the tadpole stage. They just can’t do anything a frog is supposed to.
7. Amazonian Horned Frog
The Amazonian horned frog (also called Surinam horned frog) doesn’t really do anything that weird. It just looks intimidating as all hell.
Just look at it. Its wide mouth and horn-like protrusions give it his permanent scowl, like it’s seconds away from kicking your ass.
And if you’re small enough, it just might. These frogs are dedicated ambush predators and will snatch up other frogs, lizards, and mice in a single bite.
6. Turtle Frog
The turtle frog kind of looks as if a toddler drew a “frog” and it hopped off the paper. Except these tiny-headed weirdoes don’t hop anywhere.
Turtle frogs lead an underground life, digging into burrows in their native Australia. Because of course something this bizarre is from Australia. They feed almost exclusively on termites, poking their small heads into openings in the bugs’ nests.
What sets turtle frogs apart from other burrowing frogs is that they’re capable of digging with their front legs. Yeah, the others do it backwards for some reason.
5. Purple Frog
If the turtle frog looks like a child’s drawing, we have no idea what the purple frog looks like. This freak of nature from India is just a blob of… Something.
It looks like a partially deflated purple-gray balloon. It has a reason for its minuscule head, though — like the turtle frog, the purple frog eats termites straight from their colonies.
The purple frog also lives underground, like its rhyming friend. Yet, they’re not related to each other at all.
The purple frog diverged from all others some 100 million years ago. It’s a real unique specimen.
4. Shovel-Headed Tree Frog
The shovel-headed tree frog’s name sure is accurate. Even in Latin, it’s called Triprion spatulatus.
That might have something to do with its shovel-like face.
Apart from its bizarre head, the shovel-headed tree frog lives a relatively normal frog life. But come on, what’s with the face?
3. Glass Frog
The glass frog also has a very accurate name. This creature looks like its made of glass due to its transparent skin.
It’s all there for the world to see — its organs, bones, everything. This frog has absolutely nothing to hide.
The frogs are transparent because they’ve mastered the art of camouflage. Why bother imitating a leaf when you can be see-through and blend into the tree perfectly?
You know, apart from your guts which are just kind of hovering there in the air.
2. Hairy Frog
The hairy frog got its name from the creepy, hair-like protrusions growing from its sides. They’re actually parts of its skin and help the frog breathe underwater.
But that’s not the freakiest thing about the hairy frog. If threatened, it will break its own bones and force them through its fingers to produce sharp claws.
It’s like Wolverine but with an added bit of body horror. After scaring away the threat (which we assume doesn’t take long) the frog relaxes its muscles and allows the bones to slide back into its skin, quickly healing the damage.
1. Surinam Toad
The Surinam toad looks weird. It’s almost entirely flat — even its skull is squished down.
But that’s not the freakish part. That would be how it makes babies.
After mating, the female toad moves the eggs onto its back, where they sink into her skin over the next 24 hours. The eggs will then incubate inside the female’s body, the babies going through the tadpole stage within their mother’s skin.
When they’ve developed into tiny frogs, they pop out of the female’s back, like a mass of huge toad-y pimples.
Gross.
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