Ahl's river frog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ahl's river frog |
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The Ahl's river frog or savanna puddle frog (scientific name: Phrynobatrachus latifrons) is a small frog. It belongs to the Phrynobatrachidae family. You can find this frog across a wide area in West Africa and western Central Africa. Its home stretches from Senegal all the way to northern Cameroon and eastern Chad.
Many West African countries are home to this frog. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
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About This Frog
What's in a Name?
The common name, Ahl's river frog, honors the person who first described it. This was a German zoologist named Ernst Ahl. Another name, Vogt's river frog, was once used for this same species. That name came from Theodor Vogt, who was also a German naturalist.
Meet the Savanna Puddle Frog
These frogs are quite small. Male frogs grow to be about 14 to 20 millimeters long. Females are a bit bigger, reaching 16 to 23 millimeters in length. That's about the size of a small paperclip!
They have a very short life. These frogs become adults and can have babies when they are only 4 to 5 months old. After that, they usually live for just two more months.
You can recognize them by a few features. They have webbing between their toes, which helps them in water. They don't have a spiky bit on their eyelids. Also, their finger and toe tips are not extra wide. Breeding males have a bright yellow throat.
Where Does It Live?
Home Sweet Home
The Ahl's river frog is a very common frog. It lives in many different places. You can find it in savannas, which are grassy areas with some trees. It also lives in forests that have been partly cut down or changed by people. Farmland and rocky hills in rainforests are also places where it can live. However, it avoids thick, untouched rainforests.
Breeding and Safety
These frogs like to lay their eggs in temporary water. This includes small ponds, puddles, and even ditches along roads. They are very good at adapting to different environments. Because of this, scientists believe there are no major threats to this species.
