Science Fun Party: Amazon Horned Frog, the "Pac Man frog"

Quite an impressive mouth on this Amazon Horned Frog huh?

However, the first thing that anyone notices about the Amazon Horned Frog, shockingly, isn’t the horns it’s the incredible size of them, as it grows to be about 8 inches long and their rotund bodies will easily cover a plate, as they also grow round as well as long.

Who am I?

Amazon Horned Frog, scientific name Ceratophrys cornuta, is an ambush predator. It can squeeze its fat body into the forest substrate or into the leaf litter on the bottom of the forest floor, so that only the head shows. When anything that is smaller than their own body happens by, they will instantly grasp it in very sharp teeth lock it into their jaws and swallow it whole, after springing from the mud with a giant leap.

What I Loves to Eat?

The Horned Frogs gain an enormous girth by being completely indiscriminate about what they eat, and by eating everything they can catch, which is a great deal. Their ravenous appetite and huge mouths have earned them and other horned frogs the pet-trade nickname "Pac Man frogs."

As an indiscriminate eaters, Amazon horned frogs can grow to about the size of a small plate.

Where do I Stay?

They are found in freshwater marshes and pools throughout the Amazon Basin, from Colombia to Brazil.

My Identity?

Amazon Horned Frogs are aggressive and extremely territorial, viciously defending their personal territory and they are nothing if not voracious in their appetites. Some Horned frogs have been found dead with the remains of an animal it was impossible for them to swallow still sticking out from their jaws, that were clasped around it, and many times they attempt to swallow something at least as large as they are, and being unable to swallow, or to let go of it, both become victims to the Horned frogs greed.

Females are generally larger than males, but males are more ornately colored, ranging from dark green to lime-colored. Females are usually tan. Scientists are unsure what purpose their namesake horns serve, but it is likely they aid in camouflage, resembling leaf stems in the wild.