Hi, Frank Indiviglio here. I’m a herpetologist, zoologist, and book author, recently retired from a career of over 20 years with the Bronx Zoo. When it comes to inventive – some might say bizarre – breeding habits, amphibians are without equal. Several, such as the skin-brooding Surinam Toad, are well-known, but recent studies have revealed others that could not have been predicted – i.e. tree-dwelling tadpoles that consume bark and others that gorge upon their father’s skin (which re-grows for their dining pleasure!) or on “egg omelets” whipped up by mom (please see articles linked below). But even Charles Darwin would be shocked by the habits of a small frog he first described on his famous voyage, the Darwin’s Frog, Rhinoderma darwini. Males guard their eggs and then gobble them up. The tadpoles live in the vocal sac, feed upon nutritious parental secretions, and then emerge from their fathers’ mouths as fully-formed froglets! Sadly, all evidence indicates that this astonishing creature is extinct – the latest victim of the infamous chytridiomycosis epidemic. Read the rest of this article here
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My Bio, with photos of animals I’ve been lucky enough to work with:
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Best Regards, Frank Indiviglio