Malayan Horned Frog

1 Overview

The triangular leaf frog (Megophrys nasuta) is named for its strong resemblance to a withered leaf. Males and females look very similar, so they are told apart only by size.

It is a nocturnal frog, mainly distributed in southern Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.

Chinese Name: Triangular Leaf Frog (Malayan Horned Frog)

Binomial: Megophrys nasuta

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Amphibia

Subclass: Lissamphibia

Order: Anura

Suborder: Neobatrachia

Family: Megophryidae

Genus: Megophrys

Distribution: southern Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.

2 Physical Characteristics

Ideal male body length is 70-105 mm; ideal females exceed 90-130 mm. Its typical feature is its shape and back that look like a withered leaf. Because it is larger than other leaf frogs and has the most obvious pointed snout, it is the most popular leaf frog on the market.

Among the animal kingdom’s mimicry masters, this forest-floor frog of Southeast Asian rainforest matches dead leaves in both shape and colour. It even ‘arms its eyes’ — the triangular pointed eye ‘horns’ look like curled leaf edges, making it nearly impossible to spot among leaf litter. That is the triangular leaf frog.

3 Captive Habitat

In the wild it lives on the forest floor, mixed into fallen leaves and hard to find. So captive leaf frogs should be given a similar environment for healthy growth.

It suits a fairly humid environment. Because of its protective colouring, keepers can lay soil on the bottom of a terrarium and add dead leaves, wood blocks and stones for hiding. The best temperature is 22-25°C, and to get the best breeding result, cooling (a cold period) is also required.

4 General Care

It breeds by laying eggs, usually in spring. Captive individuals need controlled temperature and a set-up scene, especially during breeding. Details:

In spring keep the environment at 20°C for about a month, then return to normal temperature, then mist heavily to simulate monsoon rain for about a week; within about a week the frogs enter breeding condition. Taiwan imports this frog every year, so as long as you provide a cool, humid environment, keeping and breeding are not difficult. Females lay about 600 eggs, hatching in about a week; the tadpoles live in water about 45 days before emerging onto land.

5 Feeding

It is a standard nocturnal ground frog; in the wild it hunts on pitch-black nights, a habit most frogs share. It especially likes snails, cockroaches and other large insects.

With the typical frog big appetite, it refuses nothing that fits in its mouth, usually ‘waiting by the stump’ for food to come, behaving more like a toad. In captivity feed crickets, mealworms, pinky mice, small bullfrogs and small fish as staples.