The Largest Frog In The World

In a world where man's ability to breed animals into genetic monstrosities is exceeded only by his desire for a dog small enough that it'll fit in a Tupperware, it can be reassuring to know that Mother Nature, too, likes to screw around with animals. Sometimes, without any human intervention whatsoever, unholy abominations are born organically, as in the case of the box jellyfish or whatever species the Snuggle Bear belongs to.

This is also true in the strange case of the world's largest frog, a behemoth from the rain forests of Western Africa. How big is it? What's its deal? Does it really do the Michigan Rag when nobody else is watching, or are you just having a mental breakdown? Read on to find out.

The world's largest species of frog is aptly called the Goliath Frog. According to the San Diego Zoo (and they would know) this particular addition to the amphibian world can grow to be over a foot long and weigh as much as seven pounds. 

While this doesn't exactly put the critter in the realm of viable, mountable war frogs that the more avant-garde reader might have hoped for, it's still a pretty substantial amount of ex-pollywog. They're a specialized species, with tadpoles only consuming a specific herb found in the waters of their very particular habitat. Once they reach maturity, though, they become somewhat less discerning in their dietary habits, as one must when becoming the largest of their kind. Their preferred meals include, via Animal Diversity Web, "insects, crustaceans, fish, mollusks, small mammals and amphibians, including newts, salamanders, and smaller frogs." They forgot to add Honey Smacks cereal, but at least these frogs are easy to please when they show up for Thanksgiving.

The Goliath Frog is currently considered to be an endangered species, with the San Diego Zoo reporting that they're illegally hunted and exported to the United States to take part in the sweet science of frog jumping competitions. They are also, according to the same report, delicious.