Banded stream frog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banded stream frog |
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The banded stream frog (Strongylopus bonaespei) is a cool type of frog that lives only in South Africa. It's also known by other names like the banded sand frog or Cape grass frog. This frog belongs to the family Pyxicephalidae, which includes some of the largest frogs in Africa.
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What Does the Banded Stream Frog Look Like?
The banded stream frog is a slim and sleek frog. It has a long, pointy nose and really long back legs. In fact, the distance from its ankle to its knee is more than half the length of its whole body! When it sits, its fourth toe on its back foot stretches past its front foot.
Its skin on its back can be pale, but it has cool stripes. These stripes can be brown, gold, grey, or even red to orange, running along its body. Its legs have bands that go across them. The skin on its belly is smooth and white.
Where Does the Banded Stream Frog Live?
This frog is special because it's found only in South Africa. Most of them live in the Western Cape province, but some can also be found in the western part of the Eastern Cape. You can find them from the Cape Peninsula in the south, all the way north to the Cederberg Mountains, and east to the Witelsbos Forest Reserve in the Tsitsikamma Mountains.
What Kind of Home Does It Like?
The banded stream frog usually lives in mountain areas covered with a type of plant called fynbos. Sometimes, you might find them near the edges of pine forests that have been planted where fynbos used to be. They like flat, open places close to streams and try to avoid steep hills or deep valleys. They live in areas that get more than 500mm of rain each year.
For laying their eggs, they look for shallow, marshy spots that have lots of plants. These spots might have long grass, restio plants (which are like reeds), or sometimes ferns. They also like areas where water slowly seeps out of the ground.
How Does the Banded Stream Frog Live and Breed?
Banded stream frogs mostly breed in winter, from May to August. But if there's enough rain, the males might also call out in spring or late summer. When a male calls, it usually crouches on the ground near water, hidden under plants hanging over the edge. They might also grip grass stems 10 to 20 cm above the ground.
Sometimes, if conditions are perfect, many males will call together in a loud chorus early in the breeding season. However, usually, the males are spread out and call individually. They can call any time, day or night, but they are most active around sunset.
The female frog lays her eggs out of the water. She puts them on wet soil or in moss at the bottom of clumps of plants. The eggs are laid about 5 to 20 cm away from temporary pools or shallow streams that come from water seeping out of the ground. A female can lay anywhere from 34 to 104 eggs! She might scatter them, group them in clusters, or even lay them in rows of up to six or seven. The tadpoles that hatch from these eggs live at the bottom of the water until they change into frogs.
Is the Banded Stream Frog Safe?
Even though the banded stream frog is listed as "least concern" (meaning it's not in immediate danger), it still faces some threats. Its home is being lost because of invasive alien plants, forestry (cutting down trees), farming wildflowers, and building new developments. Fires can also be a problem.
The good news is that much of the banded stream frog's habitat is in protected areas. This helps keep their homes safe.
What's in a Name?
The scientific name for the banded stream frog is Strongylopus bonaespei. The second part of its name, bonaespei, is Latin for "good hope." This refers to the famous Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, where these frogs live!
