Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog

Image: Khunpolrattachana
Glyphoglossus molossus

Now that is a face.

Or... most of one, at least.

Image: Khunpolrattachana

Is it just me or is there something strangely cat-like about that profile? An excessively fat cat, granted, but still.

Image: Thomas Brown

The Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog, or Truncate-snouted Burrowing Frog, or Balloon Frog, belongs to the family Microhylidae, the Narrow-mouthed Frogs. Certainly, some of their relatives look pretty strange with their pointy heads and tiny mouths but they're no Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog. This guy is one of a kind! No, really, it's the only species in their genus.

They come from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, where they spend almost all their time burrowing through the soil. They might feed on ants and the like. By the looks of things, they may also repeatedly bump into rocks.

Video: praseodymi

They only emerge in the rainy season, which is when males show off their impressive ballooning skills as they call out to the females.

Image: Thomas Brown

Females lay several hundred eggs in ephemeral water bodies. Once they hatch, those tadpoles had better get eating! There's not a minute to lose as the ponds and ditches begin to dry out as the rainy season ends.

Image: Khunpolrattachana

Apparently, the tadpoles look much like those of any other Narrow-mouthed Frog.

The adults? Not so much.