Common Name: Carruther’s Rain Frog, Rhinda Rain Frog, Phinda Rain Frog
Scientific Name: Breviceps carruthersi
Family: Brevicipidae – Rain Frog family
Location: South Africa
Size: 1.3 inches (34 mm)
The Carruther’s Rain Frog lives only in Hluhluwe, Northern KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List hasn’t accessed the Carruther’s Rain Frog yet. The researchers whom described them said they should be Data Deficient.
The frog breeds from late November and January, following heavy rains. Males call out to attempt to attract a female. Once the female arrives, the male grasps them from behind in amplexus. However, the male and female frogs are significantly different in size, even compared to the normal ratio between males and females. Normally, males are slightly smaller than the female frogs. With most rain frogs, the male is REALLY smaller than the females, making it almost impossible for the male to grasp the female around the waist. To overcome this issue, the female creates an adhesive for the male to stick to her back.
The female lays her 20 – 50 egg under logs, rocks, or beneath the ground. Also, she lays eggless capsules on top of the eggs. The eggs hatch directly into froglets, skipping a free larval phase.
The frog is a relatively new frog to science, only being described in 2017. It’s name honors Vincent Carruthers, a naturalist and author. No idea if he’s racist but he has written a decent amount of books about the animals of South Africa.