occurs between June and October, male Desert Rain Frogs emerge from their burrows at night and call out to females using a distinctive squeaking sound. When a female hears a male's call and is interested in mating, she will approach him and the two will mate underground. After mating, the female will lay a clutch of eggs, which can range in size from 12 to 40 eggs. The eggs hatch into froglets, which do not go through a free-living tadpole stage like many other frog species. Instead, the froglets emerge fully formed from the eggs and are able to move and hunt for insects on their own. Behaviour The desert rain frog is nocturnal, spending the day in a burrow which is dug to a depth of where the sand is moist. It emerges on both foggy and clear nights and wanders about over the surface of the dunes. Its footprints are distinctive and are often found around patches of dung where it is presumed to feed on moths, beetles, and insect larvae. It digs its way into the sand in the morning and its presence in a locality can be deduced from the little pile of loose sand dislodged by its burrowing activities. Breeding is by direct development of eggs laid in its burrow, there is no aquatic tadpole stage. It produces a high-pitched squeaking sound when threatened. The male's croaking is also distinctly high-pitched. Status The frog's total habitat range is smaller than and is fragmented. The number of individual frogs were previously decreasing but it is now unknown whether the population is decreasing or not. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by opencast diamond mining and road construction, as well as increased human settlement. Fortunately, Opencast diamond mining has recently ceased in south Africa. Attempts to restore the frogs' habitat by mining companies could mean that the frog is no longer threatened. However, no evidence has indicated that the frogs have actually recolonized their restored habitat. References External links Breviceps Frogs of Africa Amphibians of Namibia Amphibians of South Africa Amphibians described in 1907 Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger Viral videos Taxonomy articles created by Polbot