Hemiphractids: the strangest frogs. Their babies hatch right in the back! (7 photos)

When parents ride their children on their backs - it's cute! But nature is a cruel scriptwriter. It can easily turn even such a cute picture into a creepy plot. For example, this is how a very ordinary Wednesday goes for a whole family of hemifractid frogs. They decided to keep their offspring closer to the heart and other internal organs!





Did you order a loaf of frogs?

The life of amphibians is imbued with brutality not only in moments of parenthood. Competitors have forced them out of puddles, lakes and rivers. To survive, hemiphractids have become conquerors of the tree tops of South America. These frogs live right on the trees!



Attention! Urgently remove girls with a mania for squeezing pimples from the screens!

Now, instead of large webbed paws, they have long, tenacious fingers. And their miniature size and frail build play into their hands. Representatives of the family grow from 1.5 to 11 cm - even a leaf can withstand the weight of this little thing. The main thing: do not rustle or stick out once again. Until the darkness falls on the jungle, the amphibian is an easy snack for everyone you meet.





There are about 90 species in the hemifractid family.

The hemifractids have settled in quite well. It's easy to get lost in the lush crown. And there are countless arthropods in the forests of South America. And everything would be fine, if not for one critically important "but". Adult amphibians can survive without water for some time and wait for rain in the wet crowns. But the eggs and tadpoles are guaranteed to lack the moisture grains accumulated among the branches. They will die. I am not speaking metaphorically, rhetorically, poetically, theoretically or in any other way - eggs cannot exist without water. And in the high-mountain jungles there are almost no normal bodies of water.

They had to get around this limitation, and the frogs did not reinvent the wheel. They used a solution that had already been invented by ... marsupial mammals. Only instead of one pouch on their stomach, they arranged a real warehouse with storage chambers on their backs.



Here is a very interesting illustrative photo. Here you can see where the frog's pouch for eggs opens.



— How does she notice everything? Does she have eyes on her back? — Well, actually, yes.

This is how the hemifractids kill two birds with one stone. First, they give their babies a separate home while they grow — the cavity, moistened with mucus, is ideal for the development of eggs. Second, they increase the chances of survival of the tadpoles many times over! While other cuckoo frogs spawn and leave them to their fate, the hemifractid babies remain under their mother's care until they become completely independent!



Each species of hemifractids has a slightly different procedure for raising their babies. Some literally tuck the eggs under their skin, while others simply carry them on their backs, like the individual in the photo.

Otherwise, reproduction follows a proven pattern. As soon as heavy rains begin, the males fill the forest with angelic singing, providing insomnia for anyone unfortunate enough to have hearing. For several weeks, the males and females sing, spawn, and stuff their eggs into their pockets. Moreover, the guys actively help the lady to conveniently stuff all the eggs into her pockets on her back!



— Doctor, my skin has become very bumpy, what do you advise? — Just give birth, and all problems will disappear in a flash!

Right inside the mother's back, the eggs will develop into a tadpole, and then a small frog. This is where their transportation services end — the teenagers literally climb off their parents' necks and climb the scaffolding on all fours. But very soon, instincts will hit their heads, and the youth will rush to shove their own generation of brats onto their backs!