Goliath frogs live in small ranges in the rain forests at the equator of western Africa, near swift-moving rivers and waterfalls. These giant amphibians need to be near water much like the average frog.
They come out at night and sit on river rocks to look for food. An adult frog eats the same types of food that other frogs do: insects, crustaceans, fish, and other amphibians. But one researcher found a bat in the stomach of a goliath frog!
Not-so-parental instincts: When these frogs reach maturity and have babies, they do things a little differently from most frogs. The male builds a nest of rocks and gravel near a riverbank, and wrestles with other males to breed with females.
The wrestling and rock moving may be why males are larger than females: this is unusual for frogs. Then the female lays thousands of eggs in the nest. That is where the parenting stops: they don’t even wait around to ensure the eggs hatch.
Tadpoles must fend for themselves and find their own food. Goliath frog tadpoles are picky eaters and only eat a certain plant found near waterfalls and the banks of swift rivers. This could explain why this frog species is only found in one tiny location on Earth!
