In this clip from the BBC’s TV series Eden: Untamed Planet, a tiny desert rain frog emerges from hiding as night falls.
The desert rain frog (Breviceps macrops) is a small species with a plump body and bulging eyes, short snout and short limbs. It can’t hop or leap, so it waddles around the sand instead.
To avoid the intense heat, these small amphibians stay burrowed deep in the sand during the day and emerge to feed at night. But they don’t have it easy, as they are faced with lethal obstacles every step of the way while searching for their next meal.
This frog is mostly found on a small strip of land about 10km wide along the coast of Namibia and South Africa. With the already small population on the decline, the species is classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
And in this BBC clip, the tiny frog sets off in search of a meal.
“Trudging up to 50 yards, he calmly noses around for insects – but a Namaqua dwarf adder primes itself for ambush,” narrates actor Helena Bonham Carter.
The snake hides in the sand and waits – and the little frog gets lucky, waddling right past it. This snake species doesn’t have a particularly wide range of attack and is only able to strike prey closer than four inches.
But there’s another predator out on the hunt. A Parabuthus scorpion stands in the way of this tiny frog and survival.
“A Parabuthus scorpion uses hair-like feelers to detect the tiniest movement. The frog mustn’t stir – or he’ll trigger a deadly attack from a stinging tail,” warns Bonham-Carter as the frog stands frozen in place.
Finally, the scorpion retreats and the tiny amphibian reaches its destination. A colony of termites is busily harvesting the grass. The prey becomes the predator as the frog starts picking them off one by one.
“They’re packed with protein and fat – he’ll force down up to 100 termites in one sitting,” concludes Bonham-Carter.
Top image credit: Tanto Yensen/Getty Images
