Giant Ditch Frog - Behavior and Ecology

Behavior and Ecology

The Giant Ditch Frog is terrestrial and nocturnal.

A sit-and-wait predator with a voracious appetite, this gluttonous frog consumes almost anything that can be swallowed whole. It is well camouflaged against its habitat and remains still for long periods of time, before ambushing its prey, usually at night. Its diet is highly varied, but it is thought to be strictly carnivorous, largely consuming crickets, although millipedes, insects, crustaceans, and even small vertebrates, such as other frogs, snakes and small mammals, are all eaten. During the day the Giant Ditch Frog resides in burrows which it digs into moist soil.

The Giant Ditch Frog has a highly unusual method of reproduction, as unlike most other amphibians which breed in water, this frog breeds in underground burrows around 50 centimetres deep. The breeding season starts towards the end of the dry season, usually in April when there are heavy seasonal showers, and continues to August or September. At the start of this period, the male frogs compete to gain access to preferred nesting sites by wrestling and making loud 'whooping' calls from forest paths and undergrowth clearings. The winning male occupies a nesting burrow and emits 'trilling barks' to attract a female mate. Once a breeding pair is formed, the male and female engage in amplexus, and the female is stimulated to release a fluid, which the male makes into a foam with rapid paddles of its hind legs. Once the nest is built, which takes 9 to 14 hours, the male leaves the burrow to defend it from intruders, while the female lays the eggs. After the larvae have hatched, the female lays up to as many as 25,000 unfertilised eggs upon which the larvae feed. While the young froglets develop, which takes around 45 days, the female continuously renews the foam, only leaving the nest to feed. Eventually 26 to 43 froglets emerge from the nest, with the timing of this coinciding with the onset of the wet season, when there is an abundance of food. The Giant Ditch Frog reaches maturity at around 3 years, and has a lifespan of approximately 12 years. Mature females only produce one brood per season, but male frogs may father the offspring of more than one female.