Darwins Frog (Rhinoderma darwinii) from Southern Chile.

Darwin’s Frogs (Rhinoderma darwinii) were "discovered" by Charles Darwin on his famous Beagle voyage - folks had known of them prior but this was the first biologist that brought them into focus with regard to western science. Both species of Darwin’s Frogs employ a unique reproductive behavior. Males brood their developing tadpoles inside of their vocal sacs. Female Darwin’s frogs deposit eggs on the damp forest floor of the temperate rainforests of Chile and Argentina. Males fertilize the eggs and remain nearby. Just after the eggs hatch, the male takes the tadpoles into his mouth and manipulates them through a hole below his tongue and into his vocal sac. They will remain there and pass all the way through development and into small frogs in Rhinoderma darwinii. When the babies are ready to live on their won, the male literally “coughs” up fully developed miniatures of the adults. Rhinoderma rufum “coughs” up late stage tadpoles into pools of water. These frogs are endangered. R. rufum has not been observed in over 30 years. Rhinoderma darwinii’s range has declined owing to emergent infectious disease and habitat loss. This individual was photographed in Southern Chile. This is one of the focal species for the collaboration between the San Antonio Zoo, the Austral University, and the National Zoo of Chile in Santiago. The program is the "Chilean Amphibian Conservation Center" and works to develop captive husbandry methods for the most endangered of Chile's frogs. The project also monitors emergent infectious disease in wild populations of amphibians in Chile.