AT HOME IN the flooded caves of northern Vietnam and China, the mossy frog (Theloderma corticale) owes its survival to its brilliant camouflage. With warty skin of green, brown, and the occasional red, this frog blends in with the mossy growths that are in abundance in some of the world’s richest evergreen rainforests. Even its eyes are patterned to help it blend in, that dark band running through the pupil helping to break up the brilliant green iris.
Also known as the Tonkin bug-eyed frog, the mossy frog can be very difficult to find in the wild. It’s a semi-aquatic species, and tends to submerge itself in the water, obscured by rocks and foliage, with only its eyes poking up above the surface. When threatened, the mossy frog will curl itself up into a ball and play dead, hoping that whatever intended to eat them (most commonly a tree-dwelling mammal or snake) will be put off.
A member of the little-known Theloderma family of ‘bug-eyed’ frogs, the mossy frog’s closet relatives are found in north-eastern India, southern China, and throughout Southeast Asia. They’re known for their wonderful camouflage, as you can see here, a couple of mossy frogs blending in with the moss:
