Animal profile

Hairy Frog

Trichobatrachus robustus

AmphibiaFast forest streams and adjacent moist ground in Central African rainforestLeast Concern

Field profile

A robust brown frog in which breeding males grow hair-like dermal papillae along the flanks and thighs. It is largely terrestrial outside the breeding season and lays eggs in streams. Local hunters take it for food.

Published field notes

2025-03-04

Hairy Frog

The hairy frog breaks its toes to make claws

When seized, the frog contracts a muscle that snaps a small bone in the toe and drives the sharpened tip out through the skin of the foot, producing a claw where a moment before there was none.

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