We’ve not posted much lately (sorry!), but we’re back with a brief note on a very, very strange-looking creature that’s been in the newsmemes of late: the Vietnamese mossy frog. These wonderful creatures, Theloderma corticale, dwell within critically-threatened rain forests in—you guessed it—Vietnam. And they really blend into their habitat! Their color (green with black spots), together with their spines and tubercules, really make them look like splotches of moss. This disguise is enhanced by their strategic placement in small bodies of water, where they lurk with their eyes just above the surface, so they can keep a keen watch for predators (and presumably can also spy tasty bugs). More information can be found on the Smithsonian / National Zoo’s article on this frog.
But as odd as these creatures may seem, at least they just look like something innocuous like moss. Mossy frogs have a relative, the warty tree frog (another Theloderma), which looks just like…bird poop!