Q&A
PURPLE FROG
NATURE’S WEIRDEST CREATURES
You could say that the purple frog resembles a turtle without its shell. That’s what the good people of Idukki in Kerala say. Or you could say that this amazing amphibian looks like a bruised, bloated beanbag with beady eyes and a bootylicious backside. That’s what I say.
Evolution rightly has no respect for conventional beauty standards. Instead, it sculpts and tweaks the forms of living things so they become adapted to their environment. The purple frog is a fossorial species, which means it’s a burrower. Adults spend most of their lives underground, where their short, strong, spade-like hindlimbs are used for digging, and their hard-palmed forelimbs are used to drive their bodies downwards. Their small eyes reflect a life with little need for sight, while their tapered snout and small heads add to their triangular shape overall, which helps them forge their way through the damp earth of their forest homes. Their snouts are sensitive, with a protuberance that overhangs their small mouths. This helps them to probe around for termites (their favourite food), which are sucked up via their fluted tongues.