Breviceps fuscus, also known as black rain frog, plain rain frog, brown short-headed frog, and Tsitsikama rainfrog, is a species of frogs in the family Brevicipitidae. It is endemic to the southern coast of South Africa. Description Breviceps fuscus have a round body with short limbs and toes. Its feet are inward facing which allows the frog to burrow much more effectively . They grow to about in snout–vent length. Skin has no warts, but pronounced widely spaced lumps or small tubercles and pitting are present. Colouration is typically dark brown or nearly black, with a slightly lighter ventrum and no pigmented patterns. They have a squat body and their legs are rather short, which gives the frog its distinctive appearance. Distribution and habitat The species is only found on the southern slopes of the Cape Fold Belt from Swellendam to the Outeniqua Mountains, at elevations of up to over . It is a burrowing species inhabiting fynbos and forest fringes and does not require the presence of open water. They prefer to dwell near dislodged sand piles due to their burrowing behaviour. Behaviour Breviceps fuscus is a burrowing frog, and can be found in tunnels up to 150 mm deep or among vegetation up to about 30 cm above the ground, and it generally prefers to avoid water. The frog generally spends most of its time underground as it does not require open water and is primarily nocturnal. At night the black rain frog emerges from its burrow to scavenge for food and sometimes mate. Reproduction Males call from within burrows (sometimes while guarding eggs) and from above-ground vegetation. The call is a short (0.2 s) "chirp", with a dominant frequency of 1.8 kHz. The eggs are laid within burrows with small (15 mm) openings and about 30–40 mm deep. Each nest consists of approximately 42–43 yellow eggs that are 5 mm in diameter inside 8 mm capsules. Young Like frogs in the family Brevicipitidae in general, Breviceps fuscus show direct development (i.e., there is no free-living larval stage). This means that the breviceps fuscus does not have tadpoles and instead has young which emerge from the egg as smaller versions of the adults. These are called froglets. Survival Breviceps fuscus has many survival mechanisms to combat predators as unlike other frogs they are not able to jump or swim to evade predators due to their unique body shape,