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The Hairy Frog (Trichobatrachus robustus)
lives in highland streams in the Cameroons, West Africa. I
first came across them as a youngster while reading Gerald
Durrell's The Bafut Beagles, and they have intrigued
me ever since. The frogs are not in fact hairy, however the
males at certain times of the year develop long flowing tendrils
of skin along their flanks and thighs. Frogs can take in oxygen
to a certain extent through their skin from water. During
the breeding season the male frog grabs hold of the female
around her waist and holds on tightly for quite sometime,
although she can surface occasionally for a breath of air,
the male frog doesn't want to loose his female and so his
nostrils never break the water's surface. The increased surface
area of his skin allows him to absorb enough oxygen through
his 'hairs' to stay alive until she is ready to spawn. I was
lucky enough to be loaned a living specimen of a male hairy
frog by the British Museum in the late 1970s and can confirm
that they do in fact have razor sharp claws on their feet
which can lacerate a persons hands just as Gerald Durrell
described. Since then I have maintained several specimens
in captivity, some for as long as four years.
There is an American saying "As fine as frog hair".
The Spanish have a saying so that something will happen "When
frogs grow hair". a little like our "Pigs
might fly". |
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Hairy Frog