Titicaca water frog facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Titicaca water frog |
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The Titicaca water frog (scientific name: Telmatobius culeus) is a very large and endangered frog. It lives only in the water, specifically in the Lake Titicaca area. This includes rivers flowing into the lake and smaller connected lakes like Arapa and Lagunillas. You can find these frogs in the high Andean mountains of Bolivia and Peru.
This frog is related to the marbled water frog (T. marmoratus). The marbled water frog also lives in Lake Titicaca but spends some time on land. The Titicaca water frog, however, stays completely in the water. It also has more loose skin than its relatives.
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Appearance of the Titicaca Water Frog
How Big Are They?
In the 1960s, a team led by Jacques Cousteau found Titicaca water frogs that were up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) long. Some weighed as much as 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds)! This makes them some of the biggest frogs that live only in water.
Most Titicaca water frogs are not quite that big. They usually measure 7.5 to 17 centimeters (3 to 6.7 inches) from snout to tail. They often weigh less than 0.4 kilograms (0.9 pounds). The largest frogs usually live in the deeper parts of eastern Lake Titicaca.
Smaller types of these frogs live in shallower parts of Lake Titicaca. They also live in smaller lakes and rivers connected to Titicaca. These smaller frogs are usually 4 to 8.9 centimeters (1.6 to 3.5 inches) long. Scientists used to think these were different species. But now we know they are all just different forms of the Titicaca water frog. Female frogs usually grow larger than males.
Skin and Color
The Titicaca water frog has very small lungs compared to other frogs its size. Instead, it has a lot of loose, baggy skin. This extra skin helps the frog breathe underwater. It works like gills, absorbing oxygen from the cold water. When the frog is alive, its skin folds are full of fluid. If the fluid goes away, the frog looks quite thin.
The color of these frogs can change a lot. They are usually gray, brown, or greenish on top. Their underside is lighter. They often have spots, which can look like a marbled pattern. Some frogs in the southern part of Lake Titicaca have striped legs and bright orange undersides. If bothered, the Titicaca water frog can release a sticky white liquid from its skin to protect itself.
Habitat and Life in the Water
Titicaca water frogs live only in the lakes and rivers of the Lake Titicaca area. The largest frogs often live deeper than 10 meters (33 feet) in Lake Titicaca. Jacques Cousteau even saw them at a record depth of 120 meters (394 feet) using a mini-submarine! Other types of Titicaca water frogs live in water no deeper than 10 meters.
These frogs like areas with a mixed bottom. This could be muddy or sandy ground with some rocks. Or it could be a place with many water plants and some rocks.
Water Temperature
The water where these frogs live is usually between 8 and 17.5 degrees Celsius (46 to 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit). The frogs can control their body temperature. They do this by moving to different spots in the water that have slightly different temperatures. Adult frogs sometimes sit on top of underwater rocks to warm up in the sun.
How They Breathe
The water in Lake Titicaca usually has a lot of oxygen. But the high altitude means there is less air pressure. The Titicaca water frog breathes mainly through its skin. Its skin has many blood vessels that absorb oxygen. The frog sometimes does "push-ups" or bobs up and down. This helps more water flow over its large skin folds, allowing it to get more oxygen.
The frog mostly stays near the bottom of the lake. It has never been seen coming to the surface in the wild. However, studies show it might surface to breathe with its small lungs if the water does not have enough oxygen.
Behavior and Life Cycle
Social Behavior and Reproduction
Even though they are good swimmers, you can often see several Titicaca water frogs resting together on the bottom. They are usually most active at night.
Titicaca water frogs lay eggs all year round in shallow water near the coast. A female frog can lay about 80 to 500 eggs. The male frog guards the "nest" until the eggs hatch. This takes about one to two weeks. The tadpoles then live for a few months to a year before turning into frogs. Young frogs stay in shallow water. They move to deeper water when they become adults, usually around three years old.
What They Eat
The Titicaca water frog mostly eats small water creatures like amphipods and snails. They also eat insects and tadpoles. Adult frogs often eat fish, especially Orestias fish. Sometimes, large frogs even eat smaller Titicaca water frogs. These frogs have a very slow metabolism. This means they use energy very slowly, slower than almost all other frogs.
In zoos, young tadpoles eat tiny animals like copepods, water fleas, small worms, and insect larvae.
Calls and Hearing
Male Titicaca water frogs make simple, repeated calls underwater when they are near the shore. These calls can only be heard with a special underwater microphone. Scientists are not sure why they call, but it likely helps them attract females or interact with other frogs.
The Titicaca water frog's ears are very small. Some parts of a typical frog's ear are missing. How they hear is not fully known. But it might involve their lungs, as seen in some other frog species.
Conservation Status and Threats
The number of Titicaca water frogs has dropped a lot. Because of this, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) lists them as endangered.
These frogs used to be very common. In the late 1960s, Jacques Cousteau's team counted 200 frogs in just one small area of the lake. But by 2017, a survey found only 45 frogs in many different locations. It is thought that their numbers fell by more than 80% between 1990 and 2004. Many other frogs in the Telmatobius group are also in danger.
The main reasons for the Titicaca water frog's decline are:
- People catching too many for food.
- Pollution in the water.
- New types of fish introduced to the lake.
- Diseases.
Catching Frogs for Food
People catch these frogs to eat them or to make a blended drink. Some also use them in traditional medicine. They claim it helps with many health problems, but there is no scientific proof for this. Some local restaurants also sell dishes with Titicaca water frogs to tourists.
About 100 years ago, people in the Lake Titicaca area did not seem to hunt or eat these frogs. But by the 2000s, tens of thousands were being caught each year. Even though it is now illegal, some trade still continues. Smaller numbers have also been sent to other countries for food, frog leather, and as pets.
Pollution and Mass Deaths
Pollution from mining, farms, and human waste is a big problem in the Titicaca water frog's home. Since these frogs breathe through their skin, they easily absorb chemicals from the water. Also, pollution from farms can cause too many algae to grow. When these algae die, they use up all the oxygen in the water. This can suffocate the frogs.
In the past, small numbers of frogs sometimes died off. But now, large mass deaths are common. In 2015, thousands of dead frogs were found in Bolivia. In 2016, about 10,000 dead frogs were found in the Coata River, which flows into Lake Titicaca. Scientists believe pollution caused these deaths. This often happens during the rainy season when pollution washes into the lake.
Sometimes, affected areas can recover. Small Titicaca water frogs have been seen returning to places where mass deaths occurred.
Introduced Trout
Rainbow trout are not native to Lake Titicaca. They were brought there in the 1940s to help local fishing. These trout likely eat young Titicaca water frogs (tadpoles). Frogs also get caught by accident in fishing nets meant for trout. Also, trout farms near the coast can affect the frog's breeding areas. Trout have become very important for local fishing. This makes it hard to remove them from the area.
Disease
A fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis causes a disease in frogs called chytridiomycosis. This fungus has been in the Andes for a long time. It was found in old museum specimens of Titicaca water frogs from as far back as 1863. However, this old form of the fungus was not very harmful. A more dangerous form of the fungus spread in the 1990s, causing many frog deaths in the Andes.
While this disease has badly affected other frog species, it does not seem to have harmed the Titicaca water frog much yet. This might be because the water in Lake Titicaca is slightly basic (pH 7.5 or higher), which the fungus does not like as much. However, if the water gets warmer due to global warming, or if pollution increases, the frogs could become more vulnerable to the disease.
Conservation Efforts
The Titicaca water frog is seen as a very important animal for Lake Titicaca. In 2019, Peru even put an image of this frog on a special coin to highlight endangered wildlife.
In 2013, it was a funny nominee for "ugliest animal." This was part of a project to bring attention to threatened species that are not considered cute.
Protection Measures
In Peru, it has been illegal to trade these frogs outside their native area for decades. In 2014, it became completely illegal to catch them in Peru. Authorities have stopped thousands of illegally traded frogs. In Bolivia, hunting these frogs became illegal in 2016-2017. Since 2016, it is also illegal to trade them internationally.
Some areas where the frog lives have been made into nature reserves. Lake Titicaca itself is recognized as a special wetland site. However, protection in these reserves is often limited.
Conservation Projects
Bolivia and Peru have agreed to work together to solve Lake Titicaca's environmental problems. In 2016, they promised to spend 500 million US dollars on this. This includes building new water treatment plants to stop waste from going directly into the lake.
Special projects for the Titicaca water frog have also started. These include:
- Watching frog populations.
- Studying why mass deaths happen.
- Trying to reduce the demand for the frogs as food or medicine.
Some former frog hunters have even joined a group that makes handicrafts. This gives them a different way to earn money. There are also ideas to offer tours where people can snorkel and see the frogs. A test project for this was done in 2017.
In 2020, scientists from different countries and organizations joined forces for more conservation work.
Captive Breeding
Because the number of frogs in the wild dropped so quickly, a plan was made in the early 2000s. The goal was to create a safe population of frogs in zoos. These frogs could then be released back into the wild later. Early attempts to breed them in zoos were not very successful.
The first full success in breeding them happened recently. In 2010, they were first bred at Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Peru. In 2012, they were bred at a museum in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The breeding center in Bolivia gets help from Berlin Zoo in Germany.
In 2015, the breeding project in Peru grew. A group of frogs from Huachipa Zoo was sent to Denver Zoo in the United States. Denver Zoo had already been helping the project in Peru. In 2017-2018, Denver Zoo became the first place outside South America to successfully breed the frogs.
In 2019, some young frogs from Denver Zoo were sent to other zoos in the US and Europe. This helps create more safe populations. Several European zoos, like Prague Zoo and Chester Zoo, have also successfully bred them.
By early 2019, there were about 3,000 Titicaca water frogs at the breeding center in Peru. Another 250 were in zoos in North America and Europe. Some captive frogs have lived for up to 20 years.
See also
In Spanish: Rana gigante del lago Titicaca para niños
