Big-mouthed & Fang-mouthed

I just want to take a moment to introduce the Khorat big-mouthed frog to the Ugly Overload community. This frog is among 163 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region of Thailand.

How does it feel, you fang-mouthed frog, to know that you have a ready-made blog family awaiting you with open arms the very moment that you're discovered by us humans? That's got to give you a nice warm and fuzzy feeling.

Photo source: AP Photo/David S. McLeod, WWF Greater Mekong via Yahoo!

No Turtle Frog Tadpoles

I can't seem to find much out about the turtle frog (Myobatrachus gouldii) of South Western Australia. It seems as though it feeds on termites and lives in open woodlands and scrub plains.

From what I can tell, it bypasses the whole tadpole phase of life. But why in the world give up being a tadpole? That's one of any frog's claims to fame! Why give up one's carefree youth? Although, you would get to skip that embarrassing time of life when you're metamorphosing, and you've got under-developed legs and shrinking gills, and you're reabsorbing your tail, and you're just learning how to croak, but your voice cracks, and you can't eat enough frozen pizzas and chimichangas, and your face is breaking out with acne...

Active Self Defense

The New Guinea Bush Frog (Asterophrys turpicola) is a frog after my own heart. Native to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, this frog isn't a pushover.

If it's threatened, it will inflate itself and gape its mouth--all the better to expose its blue tongue. If that doesn't drive off the predator, then the frog attacks. It'll leap at its foe and latch on with its mouth, often not letting go for several minutes.

My eleven-month-old son has similar defensive abilities, though he adds a screech and the occasional spray of spit-up to his arsenal. His sisters have learned to catch him unawares by approaching from behind, downwind, while one of them distracts him by waving one of his favorite toys at him. Then they pounce and get in a quick hug and snuggle, before he resorts to pulling hair and going after their fingers with his new-found teeth.

Photo source: vespadelus