Goliath frog

골리앗개구리

The largest frog in the world, up to about 32 cm long and over 3 kg. It lives beside fast-flowing rivers in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea and eats insects and small animals. It is endangered by habitat loss and hunting.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Amphibians
Lives in: Fast-flowing rivers of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea
Diet: Meat eater (carnivore)
Length: about 0.3 m
Conservation status: Endangered (IUCN EN)
Habitat: rivers & lakes, rainforests

Quick answers

Where does the Goliath frog live?

It lives in rivers & lakes, rainforests. On the globe you can find it near Fast-flowing rivers of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

How big is the Goliath frog?

It grows to about 0.3 m.

What does the Goliath frog eat?

Its diet: meat eater (carnivore).

Is the Goliath frog endangered?

It is listed as Endangered (IUCN EN).

The goliath frog is the largest living frog. Verified specimens from the Muni River system measured up to 35.6 centimetres from snout to rear end, and the heaviest weighed 3.3 kilograms. Claims of larger ones, such as 45 centimetres and 4.5 kilograms, are unverified. With its legs outstretched, the biggest can slightly exceed 80 centimetres.

It lives only in a small area of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, mostly near fast rivers and waterfalls in dense equatorial forest. Its skin is granular and green-sienna on top, yellow-orange underneath, and its toes are fully webbed. It has sharp hearing but no vocal sac. Its numbers are falling because of habitat destruction, collection for food and the pet trade.

Big frog, ordinary eggs

An adult goliath frog is huge, but its eggs and tadpoles are about the same size as those of other frogs. The big eyes are almost 2.5 centimetres across. Males and females look very similar. The frogs have a very selective range, showing up in the Sanaga basin near the Nachtigal cascades, and in the Ntem, Kienke and Mbía basins. In the rapids and cascades of the Mbía basin it was found to be very abundant.

Seasons and dangers

The dry season runs from November to April and the rainy season from May to October. Forest clearing and hunting for food shrink the population, and its small range makes it more at risk. Our card describes it as endangered and says it eats insects and small animals. The frog lives in a belt of dense equatorial forest that runs roughly parallel to the coast and is cut by rivers, so its home is small and scattered.

Fun facts

The largest frog in the world, it may move heavy rocks to build little ponds for its eggs.
The biggest verified goliath frog weighed more than 3 kilograms.
A goliath frog has no vocal sac.
Its tadpoles are about the size of other frogs' tadpoles.