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Tomato frog Facts

Tomato frog Facts
Tomato frog is small frog that belongs to the family narrow-mouthed frogs. It can be found in the warm, humid parts of Madagascar. Tomato frog inhabits forests, scrublands, coastal areas, ponds, marshes, canals and areas near the rivers. It can be occasionally seen near the farms and towns. Habitat loss (due to deforestation) and over-collecting from the wild (due to pet trade) are the biggest threats for the survival of tomato frogs in the wild. Tomato frog is currently listed as near threatened, which means that it can become endangered in the near future.
Interesting Tomato frog Facts:
Tomato frog can reach 2.5 to 4 inches in length and 1.6 to 7.8 ounces of weight. Females are three times bigger than males.
Tomato frogs are orange to orange-brown (males) or reddish-orange (females) colored. Bottom side of the body is whitish yellow. Some animals have black spots on the throat. Inflated body of tomato frog looks like big ripe tomato, hence the name.
Tomato frog does not have teeth. Roof of the mouth is covered with ridges which are used for grinding the food.
Tomato frog is terrestrial animals (adapted to the life on the solid ground). It prefers sandy and muddy areas, because it likes to burrow into the substrate.
Even though tomato frog lives close to the water, it can easily drown (tomato frogs are poor swimmers).
Tomato frog is nocturnal animal (active during the night).
Tomato frog is a carnivore (meat-eater). Its diet is based on insects (such as beetles, mosquitoes and flies), worms and other small invertebrates.
Tomato frog sits and waits until perfect prey appears (it's an ambush predator). It catches the prey in the blink of an eye, using the element of surprise.
Brightly colored skin of tomato frog is sign that animal is unpalatable. Tomato frog secretes sticky, white-colored mucus which can induce irritation of mucus membrane of various animals (including humans, which can experience severe allergic reaction after consumption of this frog). Tomato frog is able to inflate its body to look bigger and scarier.
Natural enemies of tomato frogs are snakes.
Mating season of tomato frogs takes place from February to March (after the rainy season), in the swamps, shallow pools and near the slow-flowing rivers.
Males are very vocal. They produce loud calls during the night to attract females.
Female lays 1.000 to 1.500 eggs directly on the surface of the water. Eggs hatch 36 hours later. Tadpoles are filter-feeders, which mean that they eat small particles of food that can be filtered from the water.
Tadpoles transform into young frogs (froglets) after 45 days. Tomato frogs grow quickly. They attain adult size and sexual maturity at the age of one year.
Tomato frog can survive more than 10 years in the wild.


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