Not The Typical Cartoon Frog...

When the word "frog" comes to mind, most people picture the loveable green frog so often portrayed on cartoons, hitting insects out of the air, singing and hopping on lily pads. But as I recently demonstrated with rain frogs, some like to break the stereotype.

Those are feathers. And not for its collection.

Enter the ever so familiar American bullfrog (not to be confused with the pig frog, also called a bullfrog, because Old McDonald only has so many farm animals). Bullfrogs are extremely common in the US, and one of the frogs that comes to mind when people picture them. The map shown at right demonstrates why they're so well-known. The red is only their natural range: dark green is where they've been introduced. The bullfrog certainly has the voracious appetite of a bull. These greedy bastards have been found stuffing their cheeks with birds, other frogs (including their own kind), crawdads, rodents, baby turtles, and in one case, even a bat. Any animal smaller than them that they can overcome is on the menu. And we're just getting started.

Look at that cheeky face, aw...

Unfortunately that cheeky Jabba the Hutt/Pacman crossover is a murderer. Usually referred to as horned frogs (not to be confused with the Asian horned frogs) or Pacman frogs, these wide-mouthed smiling camouflaged beasties live in South America and are infamous for their appetite. The one pictured above is the Argentine ornate horned frog, a creature with gluttony as large as its name is long. The largest are only 6.5in long, smaller than the bullfrog of America, but it will consume rodents, lizards, even live fish. And while bullfrogs typically jump into the nearest water source when danger threatens, South American horned frogs will put up a fight against any opponent, no matter the size. Launching forward, they sink their "teeth" (actually projections) into their enemy, leaving painful bites. Horned frogs, however, are no match for the sumo wrestlers of amphibians...

THE BUDGETT'S FROGS

If a nuclear radiation accident straight out of a B-movie increased the size of Budgett's frogs (or escuerzos) by even 10x, humanity would be destroyed. These wide-mouthed frogs are colloquially known as "Freddy Krueger frogs", named for the terrifying scream they emit when threatened. These frogs go absolutely kamikaze when they feel as if under attack, throwing themselves forward and biting with immense gusto. Reports of them sinking their teeth-like protrusions into horses' ankles exist as well. And we know that murderfrogs weren't just restricted to modern times:

The frog from Hell

Eh, everybody reading this blog probably already knows what Beelzebufo is. That's not even a lazy copout.

None of the pictures provided belong to the author.