Common Rain Frog (Breviceps adspersus)

Common English Names: Common Rain Frog or Bushveld Rain Frog
Scientific Name: Breviceps adspersus
Family: Brevicipitidae – Rain Frog family
Location: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Size: 2.25 inches long (5.7 cm)

The Common Rain Frog is one of the many rain frog species from Sub-Saharan Africa. This cute, round frog lives most of its live in burrows underground. They are mostly seen after the heavy rains when they leave their burrows to come to the surface to hunt for food and to mate. It’s the reason they are named the Rain Frogs.

Males will start calling in early October but won’t form strong choruses until late October / early November. Calls will last until late December / early January. Once the female selects the male, the smaller male will stick to the back of the female with some sticky secretion. Removing the male from the female can damage their skin. The female will start to dig into the ground with the male on their back. She will make a chamber for herself and her eggs there. The eggs are laid in a foam to protect the eggs and the tadpoles eventually hatch there.

Here’s a nice video explaining it and showing it. Narrated by the GOAT Sir David Attenborough

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categorizes the frog as Least Concern for Extinction. They have a wide range and are thought to have a large population.