While some folks decided to embrace the funny side of it, comparing the creature to Star Wars character Jabba the Hut, others believed it was a shell-less turtle or just a really fat frog. And it turned out that this wasn’t far from the truth.
Conservation biologist Jodi Rowley entered the discussion after a while and revealed that the creature from the photo is Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog (Glyphoglossus molossus). According to her, these frogs are unknown to most people as they spent the majority of their time underground and usually came out when it rains.
This #frog is doing the rounds on social media. It’s a Blunt-headed Burrowing Frog (Glyphoglossus molossus). Native to drier parts of mainland SE Asia, this species spends most of its life underground, waiting for rain- they’ve a great shape for burrowing & conserving water. https://t.co/oic1ymL5MX
— Jodi Rowley (@jodirowley) January 7, 2021
Blunt-headed Burrowing Frogs aren’t usually this big. The one from the photo appears like that because it decided to inflate itself in order to look bigger and more threatening.
Frog of the day is Glyphoglossus molossus, the balloon frog. These southeast Asian amphibians can inflate themselves to a surprising degree, adding to their novelty. They are nearly threatened due to their popularity as food in Thailand as well as habitat loss. pic.twitter.com/yx2ST9pQTj
— Pentti Linkola Stan??? (@luddofisherman) January 9, 2021
