Rare grumpy frog spotted in Australia
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If you think you're having a bad day, check out this frog.
It's been spotted in the Ethabuka nature reserve in Central West Queensland, Australia looking awfully grumpy.
As its name suggests, the Desert Spadefoot is native to the desert.
These frogs are really shy. They can spend months or years underground, waiting for the perfect conditions to come to the surface.
The frogs have become famous because their downturned mouth which makes it look like they have a permanent frown.
With temperatures that hit 50掳C in summer and 0掳C in winter, the Australian outback is the kind of place that only specialised creatures survive.
The outback only gets a tiny bit of rain each year and this is when the Desert Spadefoot comes out to play to feed and breed.
The frogs deposit their eggs on the soggy sand and - in the space of just a month - the eggs hatch and change from tadpoles into frogs.
Ethabuka reserve manager Helene Aubault told ABC News it was the first time they'd seen the frogs in over a year and a half.
"They're a pretty amazing frogs; to avoid any drought they just burrow underground," she said.
"They have a massive gland of water under their skin, so they just fill that, burrow under the ground, stay there for months or years even until it rains enough, and recently it has rained enough.
"Then they emerge, and breed and eat straight away, and once the water is too low, they go back inside."
The Desert Spadefoot gets its name from a spade-like projections on its hind legs which allow them to dig into sandy soils.
- Published9 September 2021
- Published2 August 2019