Darwin's Frog

After the eggs begin developing, the male takes the embryos into his vocal sac. The young complete much of their development there before emerging as tiny froglets, an unusual reproductive system called neomelia.

Rhinoderma darwinii inhabits cool, moist temperate forests in southern Chile and neighboring Argentina. It depends on leaf litter, small streams and intact forest conditions.

Charles Darwin collected the frog during the voyage of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, and the species was later named Rhinoderma darwinii in his honor. Darwin was the collector associated with it, not the author of its current scientific name.

The northern Darwin's frog, Rhinoderma rufum, has not been reliably observed for decades and is classified as critically endangered, possibly extinct. It is distinct from Rhinoderma darwinii, the southern species still known from Chile and Argentina.