The Unique and Endangered Mountain Chicken Frog

The mountain chicken frog is a truly unique and fascinating creature. Despite its name, the mountain chicken is actually a large frog, not a chicken This unusual frog is native to the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat Unfortunately, the mountain chicken is also critically endangered and could face extinction without dedicated conservation efforts.

An Unusual Name for an Unusual Frog

So how did this frog end up with such a misleading name? There are a few possible theories. One is that early settlers thought the frog’s meat tasted like chicken, leading to its edible nickname. Some also believe the name comes from the frog’s chicken-like vocalizations. Another idea is that the frogs care for their young in underground burrows, similar to mother hens.

No matter the origins of its name, the mountain chicken frog is quite different from an actual chicken. This is one of the largest frogs in the world growing up to 2.2 pounds and 8 inches long. The female frogs are larger than males. These hefty amphibians have plump bodies and muscular hind legs. Their coloring ranges from brown to orange or yellow. They also have distinctive folded skin running from their heads to their hindquarters.

Habits and Habitats

The mountain chicken frog lives in humid forests, river valleys, and agricultural areas on its Caribbean islands. These frogs are primarily active at night. During the day, they take cover in burrows dug into moist soil. They can camouflage themselves well in their environments.

These frogs are sit-and-wait predators with hearty appetites They eat a wide variety of prey, including insects, spiders, snails, smaller frogs, snakes, and even bats Mountain chickens will snatch up any animal they can fit into their large mouths. Their immense size allows them to tackle bigger prey than most frogs.

Breeding and Raising Young Underground

Mountain chickens have a very unusual breeding strategy. Instead of laying eggs in water like most frogs, they build underground foam nests for their eggs and offspring.

Breeding starts in the rainy season around April. Males compete for ideal nesting spots and emit loud whooping calls to attract females. Once a pair forms, the male and female work together to whip up a thick foam nest in a burrow around 20 inches deep.

After the female lays her eggs, she provides thousands of unfertilized eggs for the hatched tadpoles to eat. The female continues caring for the tadpoles underground as they develop into froglets. It takes around 45 days for the froglets to fully metamorphose and emerge. This unique underground development allows the mountain chicken frogs to breed away from water sources.

Conservation Status and Threats

Sadly, the remarkable mountain chicken frog is now critically endangered. Its population has declined over 80% since the 1990s. Several major threats contributed to this drastic drop.

• Hunting: These frogs were heavily hunted for food, especially on Dominica where they were considered a delicacy. Annual harvests took thousands of frogs.

• Habitat loss: Agricultural and urban development destroyed much of the frog’s habitat.

• Natural disasters: Volcanic eruptions wiped out populations on Montserrat. Hurricanes damaged habitats on both islands.

• Disease: The fungal disease chytridiomycosis began devastating the frogs in the 2000s and was the primary cause of recent population crashes.

Without dedicated conservation, the mountain chicken frog could follow many other Caribbean amphibians into extinction. There are now likely less than 200 individuals left on Dominica and possibly none in the wild on Montserrat.

Conservation Efforts Underway

There are active efforts to save the mountain chicken frog from vanishing completely. A coalition of zoos has established a healthy captive population as an “insurance” against extinction. Hundreds of frogs are being carefully bred in zoos across Europe, the UK, and the US.

Some captive-bred mountain chickens have been reintroduced to protected enclosures on Montserrat. Scientists closely monitor these frogs to study their survival and resistance to the chytrid fungus plaguing wild populations.

Public education campaigns on Dominica and Montserrat aim to stop illegal poaching of the frogs. Habitat restoration projects create safer environments for existing frog populations. Researchers continue seeking solutions for managing the fungal disease driving declines.

This unique frog has survived volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, disease, and overhunting over the centuries. With robust conservation measures, hopefully the mountain chicken can persist well into the future. Protecting and restoring habitats will allow this endangered species to thrive once again.

The average lifespan of a mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) is 12 years.