Tomato Frogs
Dyscophus
Tomato frogs are any of the three species of genus Dyscophus (family Microhylidae): D. antongilii, D. insularis, or D. guineti. Dyscophus is the only genus in subfamily Dyscophinae. They are endemic to Madagascar.
The common name comes from D. antongilii's bright red color. When threatened, a tomato frog puffs up its body. When a predator grabs a tomato frog in its mouth, the frog's skin secretes a thick substance that numbs the predator's eyes and mouth, causing the predator to release the frog to free up its eyes. This substance contains a toxin that occasionally causes allergic reactions in humans, although such allergic reactions are not deadly.
3 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 3 known species
Tomato Frog
speciesDyscophus antongilii
Sambava Tomato Frog
speciesDyscophus guineti
Antsouhy tomato frog
speciesDyscophus insularis
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Dyscophus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 25152.