Common Name: Carvalho’s Surinam Toad
Scientific Name: Pipa carvalhoi
Family: Pipidae – Tongueless Frog family
Locations: Brazil
Female Size: 2.6 inches (68 mm)
Male Size: 2.2 inches (57 mm)
The Carvalho’s Surinam Toad is a highly aquatic frog, only leaving the water to escape drying ponds. Males of the species are territorial, chasing away and even wrestling male frogs that invade their territory. Just like its cousin the Surinam Toad (Pipa pipa), the Carvalho’s Surinam Toad gives “birth” to their young out of their back. To accomplish this task, the male grasps around the female’s waist (inguinal amplexus). The female swims upward to the surface and releases her eggs. She then turns down and the male then fertilizes the eggs and pushes them into the female’s back The couple does this repeatable until all the eggs are released from the female. After 2 to 4 weeks, tadpoles emerge from the mother’s back, slightly different than the Surinam Toad who has froglets emerge.
