r/Awwducational • u/IdyllicSafeguard • Nov 11 '24
QUALITY POST The moaning frog is named for its call, which sounds like a slow and drawn-out moan. This frog is native to southwestern Western Australia, where, for about one month out of the year, the males sit in their burrows and moan for the attention of females.
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u/IdyllicSafeguard Nov 11 '24
Sources:
Friends of Queens Park Bushland
Western Australian Museum - frogs of Western Australia
Government of Western Australia - frogs of Western Australia
Sleeping beauties—how do frogs stay alive without oxygen? by Kim Birnie-Gauvin.
Scientific American - how frogs survive winter
Photo Sources:
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u/_LadyGodiva_ Nov 12 '24
I think this is one of my favourite posts in this sub, if only for the incredible list of frogs at the end. "Bilingual frog" is so damn funny to me.
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u/selkiesidhe Nov 11 '24
Oh that was just ... weird. Those sounds. I'm going to remember that for the next time I gotta debunk some video saying there's evil ghosts in their backyard. "Dude that's just a moaning frog..."* 😆
And ofc they're Australian.
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u/IdyllicSafeguard Nov 11 '24
The male frogs are the moaners — they sit in burrows beneath the sandy soil and moan into the night, yearning for the attention of a female.
An entire choir of moaning frogs sounds weirdly eerie; almost like the distant howling of wolves in the night.
These frogs only moan for about one month out of the year, beginning in March with the first heavy rains.
Females hop around above ground, listening for the best moan. Having chosen a mate, a female enters his burrow, deposits a mass of up to 300 eggs at the bottom, and then leaves — not being one for romance. The male then fertilises the eggs.
When rainwater floods the burrow, the eggs hatch into black-and-gold tadpoles, each some 5 centimetres (2 in) long — as they metamorphose into tailless and portly adults, the largest females will grow no larger than 6.6 cm (2.6 in).
During the austral summer, when the land is hot and dry, these frogs leave the desiccated marshlands to hop around in the bush — hunting for insects, spiders, worms and snails.
Being a burrowing frog, it's speculated that this species buries itself in moist soil and estivates — entering a state of dormancy in which metabolism is lowered — through the worst of the summer, but there isn't any conclusive evidence of this yet.
Although moaning frogs rarely settle near humans, a misplaced and horny male in the backyard can mean a month of nightly moaning. If a male settles near your home, it's recommended that you gently flood his burrow with water for a few nights until he decides to move on.
Moaning frogs aren't the only rowdy frogs Down Under. Western Australia hosts an entire parade of moaners, hummers, and wailers. A few of these vocal amphibians include the quacking frog, whooping frog, chattering rock frog, humming frog, squelching frog, and bilingual frog.
You learn a bit more about the moaning frog and its boisterous brethren on my website here!