Ripple Baka'toe

## ***Basic Information:***

***Common Name:*** *Magnarana Coronata* (lit. Great crowned frog)

***Pronunciation:*** Ri-pull Bah-kah-toe

***Conservation Status:*** Conservation Needed

***Temperament:*** Passive

**Gender:** Alpha Male/Female

***Diet:*** Absorbed Nutrients

***Height:*** 1.95 meters (6.4 ft.) across.

***Weight:*** 88.95 kilograms (196.1 lb.)

## ***Description:***

The Ripple Baka'toe is a large animal that resembles a four-legged frog. It is orange with large green spots and green legs. It has a short tail, an orange crown, a purple ridge on its back, and large bulging eyes. It is passive and absorbs nutrients. It is a solitary creature and avoids others of its kind, and moves with a rapid, waddling gait.

This creature also does not have a conventional digestive system; rather, it absorbs nutrients from the plant matter it feeds on. It extends a porous, blue, proboscis-like appendage from inside its mouth and uses it to makes contact with various nutrient-rich surfaces. Nutritional particles leech through the pores of its proboscis, and those particles then mixed with saliva to create a gelatinous solution that is then filtered by various membranes in its throat before passing into the stomach.

## ***Habitat:***

These creatures can be found in the caves of **Aurdovi** and surface regularly. However, unlike most other underground-dwelling creatures of Aurdovi, like the **Orakmuta** or **Six-Legged Ground Pangolin**, these creatures surface at night rather than during the day.

They prefer making their homes near the mouths of caves, as opposed to the deep deep interiors. This allows them to seek shelter from their natural predators on the surface, as well as from those that dwell far in the caves. Additionally, they can easily surface to feed.

## ***Behavior:***

These creatures are very timid and flighty, but willingly approach food. Many native Gek, particularly children, enjoy feeding these creatures and watching them dig up all kinds of little treasures.

They are fine with contact with other members of their species, but don't prioritize them, and will allow younger Bakatoe to live in their caves.

## ***Reproduction:***

As far as mating rituals go, the Baka'toe don't seem to have a very flashy or involved one. Female Baka'toe will lay anywhere from 20 to 40 eggs, each about 12 centimeters in diameter, around an Iron Egg Nest deposit, just outside their home cave. Males will then fertilize the eggs once they've been laid, much like frogs do on Earth. The extended gestate for 13 months.

Since the eggs are so exposed, they often fall prey to predators, specifically the Gnakiki and Galus scavengers. However, since females lay such a large number of them, around three will survive until birth.

When they are born, Ripple Baka'toe have a huge store of nutrients and fats that they need to grow stored in their tails, similar to how fat-tailed geckos of Earth store fat in their tails. This gives them a huge advantage on Aurdovi when food is short. They are quite small when born, but grow rapidly. The fat tail is not required by the adults however, so it shrinks down as the adults gain more mass and protective, insulating blubber on their bodies.

## ***Ecology:***

### ***Where in the Food Pyramid?***

It is a primary consumer, or herbivore. It is also a heterotroph, which means it can't make its own food.

### ***Diet:***

The favorite food of this creature is the **Memphi Iron Mushrooms**. It also drinks the sap of the **Frostium Pinesefia**. This creature comes to the surface to feed at night.

### ***Predators:***

This creature falls prey to the **Galus Widower** and the **Gnakik**i.

## ***Captain's Log: "Frog Guy Observations":***

*A log of **Captain** **Seri's** adventures and interactions with this creature, provided as public observations in the name of science and further research!*

Aurdovi, *Log 6398182016:* Another cave, another flat-frog creature scuttling out of it squawking in its deep croaking voice as we startle one another yet again. What is it that makes these guys show up so often in caves? Do they prefer moist habitats or is it that their smooth skin - which seems to grow patches of moss - can't handle the cold for prolonged periods of time?

In any case they do seem to enjoy digging. Offered a little food almost all of them will calm down and follow me around for quite some time. They seem oddly concerned about me, not calming down until I enter a warmer area - usually the sunlight or into a cave interior - and they see me "eat" some of the substances they dig up.

As for those, though... they've got quite the nose! Time after time they've dug up extremely rare minerals and elements, which seem to be their chief diet. That would probably make them pretty expensive to keep for long-term captive observation, now that I think of it, but it does make it pretty exciting to see where their talented nose will take them.

They seem to use the shield on their head to help them dig and root deeper into the soil for these minerals, a process that takes up all their observation and requires the use of their stubby but strong limbs. The webbed nature of their feet seems to help them in digging.

They are *very* easily startled though - at the slightest sudden movement or noise they let out a terrified squawk and run for it, often going in frantic circles if they can't find a clear exit. Considering I usually find them near caves... could this mean that they are perhaps frequent prey for the Galus Widower and Gnakiki? I am often attacked by the Widowers in the same or near-by areas where I find these little frog guys...

## ***Episodes:***

This creature is seen in the following episodes:

**Ep. 3: Repeated Planetary Crash Landings**

**Ep. 4: Our First Vicious Alien!!**