Tago's Brown Frog

Fascinating facts about the Tago's Brown Frog

• A chorus of Tago's brown frogs erupts each late spring, their calls rising from the forest floor to announce the season.
• These frogs make their homes in mountain streams, nesting under stones and in leaf-litter where the water runs cool and clear.
• Their eggs are laid in subterranean rivers, where the tadpoles grow into frogs.
• Found on Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and several outlying islands, the species splits into two island subspecies, one on the Oki Islands and another on Yakushima.

About the Tago's Brown Frog

Tago's brown frog, Rana tagoi, is a ranid endemic to the islands of Japan, where it occupies the rugged terrains of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, as well as outlying islands, and is further divided into two geographically distinct subspecies, R. t. okiensis on the Oki Islands and R. t. yakushimensis on Yakushima. These frogs are most often encountered perched on stones or hidden beneath the damp detritus that carpets the banks of clear, cold streams. Their reproductive strategy is specialized: females deposit eggs in subterranean river chambers, where the developing tadpoles remain concealed until they metamorphose into terrestrial juveniles. In late spring, the air is punctuated by their low, resonant croaks that rise from the water's edge. They can interbreed with their sister species, Rana sakuraii, producing viable hybrids.

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