page_title: Leptodactylus fallax
section_title: Behavior and ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Leptodactylus fallax / Behavior and ecology
caption_attribution_description: Giant Ditch Frog (Leptodactylus fallax)
context_page_description: Leptodactylus fallax, commonly known as the mountain chicken or giant ditch frog, is a critically endangered species of frog that is native to the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Montserrat. The population declined by at least 80% from 1995 to 2004, with further significant declines later. A tiny wild population remains on Dominica where there are efforts to preserve it, but few or none survive in the wild on Montserrat and its survival now relies on a captive breeding project involving several zoos. The initial decline was linked to hunting for human consumption, along with habitat loss and natural disasters, but the most serious threat now appears to be the fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which was the primary cause of the most recent rapid decline. On Montserrat it is known as the mountain chicken, while on Dominica it is known as the crapaud.
context_section_description: The mountain chicken is terrestrial and nocturnal.
  A sit-and-wait predator with a voracious appetite, this gluttonous frog consumes almost anything that can be swallowed whole. It is well camouflaged against its habitat and remains still for long periods of time, before ambushing its prey, usually at night. Its diet is varied, but it is strictly carnivorous, largely consuming crickets and other insects, although millipedes, crustaceans, spiders (also tarantulas) and even small vertebrates, such as other frogs, snakes and small mammals such as bats, are all eaten. Despite its willingness to eat other frogs, except for consuming unfertilized eggs, cannibalism is not known from the mountain chicken. During the day the mountain chicken frog resides in burrows which it digs into moist soil.
caption: Leptodactylus fallax
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