Vassrun Alarm Frog

Other Names

Vassrun Screamer, Panic Toad

Summary

The Vassrun Alarm frog is a broad bodied amphibian native to the marshlands surrounding the New Vassrun Deltas and the southeastern regions of the true Wilderuns. They are a common enough sight in the area as they exist in large numbers and are brightly colored. However they are more often recognized for their distinctive calls, particularly the high-pitched alarm call that has earnt them the titles of Alarm Frog, Vassrun Screamer and Panic toad.

Description

The Vassrun Alarm Frog is a broad bodied amphibian with a broad, triangular head and a stubby body. They are black or grey in coloration, with orange or red blotches breaking up the animals base color. Its eyes are large and often a yellow-brown, sat atop the sides of it's head. The Frog is quite vocal, and can be heard singing throughout both the summer days and nights in the south eastern Wilderuns.
They are particularly famous for the high-pitched scream they emit when Alarmed. In addition to this they buff up their chest and stand tall, trying to make them seam larger than they really are in an attempt to frighten potential predators.
These frogs are active between early spring and late summer, and are most active as the summer transitions into spring. Throughout their active months the nights in the Vassrun deltas are filled with their booming mating calls and their quieter (but still quite deep) communicative cries. They are less active during the day, however they still emit the occasional communicative cries.
Outside of their active months they spend little time at the surface of the water, opting to hide within their burrow or hunt completely submerged near their dens, only ever being seen when they come to the surface. They become less active during the winter, however they at no point need to hibernate or go entirely dormant as the Vassrun delta is warm all year round. Although they are common in their native range they have had no success settling elsewhere, as they are far to acclimatized to the middling changes between seasons to adapt to the harsher seasons to the west farther away from the seasonal equator.
Although not quite at the Seasonal equator the frogs homeland is just above the climatorial equator and is considered to be tropical. These frogs are well adapted to the climate, however their year round activity causes them to have shorter lives than similarly sized frogs in cooler climates as they do not spend half the year or so in hibernation with a slowed metabolism. The Alarm Frog usually lives for 5 years, however some individuals can reach the age of 6.
The life cycle of the Alarm frog begins the same way as all frogs, as a tadpole hatched from a clutch of eggs. In the case of the Alarm frog these eggs are laid in marshy, silt filled bonds on the middle of deltas or sandbars that reach the marshy waters surface where they can grow in relative safety, at least compared to the larger waterways of the deltas. The tadpoles spend the second half of summer or early autumn (depending on when they hatched) feeding and growing as they slowly metamorphize into tailed sub-adult called froglets, before entering the primary waterways.

Size

13-22cm

Animal Family

Amphibian (frog)

Diet

Insectivore

Preferred Biomes

Marshlands and Deltas

Regions of Habitation

Native: The Vassrun Deltas
Introduced: None
Domesticated: None