Black-sided Narrow-mouthed Frog

Fascinating facts about the Black-sided Narrow-mouthed Frog

• A male can be as tiny as 16 mm long, while a female can grow up to 26 mm.
• The frog’s back may look pinkish or grey, but a bold black stripe runs uninterrupted from its nose to the groin.
• Unlike many amphibians that need pristine ponds, it thrives in disturbed habitats, turning abandoned ditches and flooded rice paddies into bustling breeding grounds.
• Found from northeastern India all the way to Sumatra and the Great Nicobar Island.

At a glance

About the Black-sided Narrow-mouthed Frog

The Black-sided Narrow-mouthed Frog, Microhyla heymonsi, is a diminutive amphibian that barely exceeds the length of a thumbnail. Males measure 16–21 mm and females 22–26 mm from snout to vent, their tiny bodies cloaked in a pinkish-grey dorsal hue. A striking black band runs laterally from the tip of the snout, hugging the head and trailing down to the groin, a bold stripe that gives the species its common name. This frog thrives in the bustling margins of human-altered landscapes across northeastern India, southern China, Taiwan, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and the Great Nicobar Island, where it makes its home among secondary vegetation and other disturbed habitats. When the monsoon swells temporary rain puddles, paddy fields, ditches, marshes, and slow-flowing streams, the frogs gather to breed.

More other animals to discover

Browse Feravox