Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Cool critter of the week
We saw one of these at the California Academy of Sciences on Sunday:
I’ll quote someone else:
The males grab onto the females in piggyback fashion, hanging on in front of her hind legs. The frog pair rolls over while floating in the water, and the female lays three to five eggs while she is in the upside down position. The eggs catch on the male’s belly, then drop onto the female’s back as the pair completes the roll. Instead of the eggs sticking to vegetation or floating off into the water as they do with most frogs, the eggs stay on the mother’s back, where they become caught. Her skin swells up around the sides of each egg. In all, she may have about 50 eggs on her back, which remain there for the next three or four months. At that time, the eggs hatch right into froglets, which pop right out of her back.
We saw a female with eggs on her back in various stages of development. Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense that they would be at different stages, unless her back traps the eggs before fertilization and they’re fertilized at different times? I dunno. One of the mysteries of life.
Oh, wait! Only 3 to 5 eggs per mating, up to fifty on her back . . . whoa, she’s been busy!
D.
Ewwww….
Would that make her a slimy slut?
very cool!