The Amphibian Foundation's Frog Blog

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2xvMSf9 Pipa pipa , the Suriname Toad is easily one of the most bizarre species of frog. I have always found them fascinating, although many people are grossed out by them — their flatness and their wackadoo reproductive strategy. More on that soon — #Pipapipa #Pipa #SurinameToad #FrogsOfInstagram #Frog #Frogs #AquaticFrogs #frogstagram

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2jncKjs Since I met my first Pipa pipa ( Suriname Toad ) I have been completely enamored with this species. Their huge flat bodies, their bizarre courting, breeding and reproductive behavior, the fact that tiny Pipas pop out of mom’s back — the list goes on and on — Right down to the wackadoodle star-shaped fingertip lobes on each of the creepy fingers. Using SEM, one can see that each lobe of the star-shaped lobes branches out into 4 more star-shaped lobes — and so on, and so on — maximizing the surface area for still yet unknown reasons. They definitely use their fingers to detect prey — you can observe them rooting around in the substrate locating food — but are there receptors at the ends of these lobes? Are they chemoreceptive? Gustatory? Electroreceptive? … fascinating. Pipids lack tongues and teeth! They capture and transport prey through a mechanism called suction feeding. As the name implies, suction feeders engulf prey with the surrounding...

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