Common names:
Mountain Chicken [1].
The Giant Ditch Frog [2].
Classification:
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Amphibia
Order - Anura
Family - Leptodactylidae
Species - Leptodactylus fallax
Distribution:
Leptodactylus fallax is extant on two islands; Dominica, occupying ~40km2, and Monserrat, occupying ~1km2 (Figure 2) [1]. It has gone extinct from a number of other islands in the region; Guadeloupe, Martinique, and St Kitts, St Lucia and Antigua [1]. It occurs from 0-400m above sea level [1].
Details:
The Mountain Chicken lives in secondary vegetation and plantations [1]. It is terrestrial and nocturnal, it hides in burrows during the day [1]. Males wrestle to occupy a nesting burrow, from which they call at rate of 100/120 calls a minute to entice a female [3, 4]. Eggs are laid terrestrially, in the bottom of the burrows in a foam - roughly 25-43 tadpoles are produced [1, 3,4] The young are fed infertile eggs by the female in a nest guarded by both parents [1, 2, 3, 4]. An adult can row up to 20cm in length and can be over 1kg in weight - they are sexually dimorphic, with females usually larger [1]. An adult is thought to take three years to reach maturity [1]. They are a brown colour along the spine which moves through orange into yellow towards their sides and belly, the have the occasional black blotch (Figure 1) [5]. They feed mostly on invertebrates and molluscs but have been known to eat snakes and tree frogs [1]. Historically, it was heavily consumed by humans for its meat, hence the name 'mountain chicken' [1].
The population of Leptodactylus fallax is severely fragmented and declining [1]. The two largest subpopulation hold ~50% of extant individuals, while the other five are very small and isolated [1]. This species is found in only one protected are in Monserrat but is part of international efforts to save it [1]. A number of institutions around the world now hold captive populations [1]. Dominica banned hunting in 2003 and has taken steps to educate the public to prevent illegal hunting, mountain chicken was replaced as the national dish in 2016 [1]. A chytridomycosis outbreak in 2002 caused the decline of this species by ~90% [2]. This species is well monitored and continual awareness campaigns are occurring to help maintain current populations [1]. There is no known way to prevent, treat, or eradicate the Chytrid fungus in the wild so much more research is needed to be able to save the wild populations [2].
Threats to the species:
Hunting [1].
Urbanisation and development [1].
Tourism [1].
Agricultural expansion [1].
Volcanic activity [1].
Disease [1].
Logging [1].
Similar species:
References:
[1] IUCN Red List. (2017). Mountain Chicken, Leptodactylus fallax. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/57125/3055585. [Accessed 5 May 2019].
[2] ZSL. (2019). Mountain Chicken Frog Conservation. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.zsl.org/conservation/regions/americas/mountain-chicken-frog-conservation. [Accessed 5 May 2019].
[3] Gibson, R. C. and Buley, K. R. (2006) ‘Maternal Care and Obligatory Oophagy in Leptodactylus fallax: A New Reproductive Mode in Frogs’, Copeia, 2004(1), pp. 128–135.
[4] AmphibiaWeb. (2009). Leptodactylus fallax. [ONLINE] Available at: https://amphibiaweb.org/species/3322. [Accessed 5 May 2019].
[5] Kaiser, H. (1994) ‘Leptodactylus fallux Miiller Mountain Chicken, Crapaud’, Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles, pp. 583.1-583.3.
Photo: BBC. (2005). The Mountain Chicken. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/sci_nat_enl_1128244763/html/1.stm [Accessed 5 May 2019].
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