Argentine horned frog

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Leptodactylidae
Genus:	Ceratophrys
Species:	C. ornata

Binomial name

Ceratophrys ornata
Bell, 1843

The Argentine Horned Frog (Ceratophrys ornata), also known as the Argentine wide-mouthed Frog or Pacman frog, is the most common species of Horned Frog, from the rain forests of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. A voracious eater, it will attempt to swallow anything that moves close to its wide mouth, such as insects, small birds and mammals, lizards and other frogs, even if it would suffocate in the process.

1 Characteristics
2 Feeding
3 Reproduction
4 Keeping as a pet
5 Gallery
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Characteristics

The females can grow to be 14 centimeters ( 5.5 inches) long and the males 10 centimeters (3.9 in). The lifespan is 6 to 7 years, however they can live up to 10 years.^[1]^[2] The Horned frogs' most prominent feature is its mouth, which accounts for roughly half of the animal's overall size. Coloration is typically bright green with red markings, though dark green, parti-color black and albino versions also exist. Sexing this species is very difficult, and the only dimorphism between the two sexes is size and that males have dark pigmented throats.

[edit] Feeding

Horned frogs hunt by remaining motionless, and waiting for prey. Anything that can fit in their mouths, and some things that can't, is prey.

[edit] Reproduction

Reproduction is sexual. The Argentine Horned frog mates similar to dogs because the male grasps the hind limbs of the female and bends them over. Female horned frogs deposit 2000 eggs in water and within two weeks they become tadpoles.

[edit] Keeping as a pet

An Argentine Horned Frog

Known in the pet industry as Pacman frogs, the Argentine variety is usually the hardiest species and is easy to care for. The Argentine Horned frog has simple requirements as a pet. An aquarium of at least ten gallons will do. Because they are very poor swimmers and spend their time buried in soil and leaf litter in the wild, the only water in the tank should be a shallow bowl - with water shallow enough that they cannot possibly drown in it. The rest of the tank should be peat moss or coconut fiber or similar substrate, deep enough that they can bury themselves in it as they would in their natural habitat. Care must be taken to avoid substrate with rocks or gravel that could be eaten by accident while hunting, causing fatal impactions in the stomach.

It is recommended to keep horned frogs alone to avoid cannibalism. A preferred temperature for the cage is from 72 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and moist conditions.