Odontophrynus americanus

The Cordoba Escuerzo, common Lesser Escuerzo,  American ground frog, Cururu lesser Escuerzo, or Barrio's Escuerzo (Odontophrynus americanus) is a frog.  It lives in Brazil.

Body

The adult male frog is 42.2 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is 44.6 mm long. The head is wider than it is long. It has claws on its front feet and webbed skin on its back feet. The skin of the frog's back is light brown with darker brown marks surrounded in black. Sometimes there is some red color. The belly is off-white with some brown color. The adult male frog has a dark gray neck in front.

Home
Scientists saw this frog in grassy places and in Atlantic forest, Cerrado places, and Pampa places. It can live near farms and towns. Scientists saw the frog between 0 and 2000 meters above sea level.

Scientists have seen the frog in many safe parks: Parque Estadual do Turvo, Área de Proteção Ambiental Sapucai-Mirim, Área de Proteção Ambiental Campos do Jordão, and Floresta Estadual de Assis in Brazil.

Young
The male frog calls to the female frogs at night near pools of water that are not deep and are not there all year. This frog has many young at the same time. The female frog puts her eggs in the mud at the bottom of the pool.

The tadpole has a round body. The eyes are on the top of its body. It has a beak in its mouth. Its top and sides are brown and its belly is clear. The tadpoles look for food on the bottom of the pool. They eat algae and dead plants.

The tadpoles become frogs in 7-9 months.

Danger
The IUCN says this frog is not in danger of dying out. Many things eat the tadpoles. For example, a frog called Rana catesbeiana that people brought from other parts of the workd frogs eat them. The tadpoles hide by digging into the ground with their legs. Human beings also catch the frog to eat and to sell as a pet.

First paper

References

Category:Frogs of South America