Stomach Examination

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red Listed and Endangered Boulenger's Spiny Frog Quasipaa boulengeri has been under the study radar - until now.

Vietnam and China's endemic Spiny Frog is a large individual that starts off as 50mm long tadpoles. They can range from 69mm to 118mm long as adults with females being the larger sex. As their name suggests, the spines are evident on the back, lower side of the frog. They can be a dark to light brown on their back and have yellowish bellies.

Dorsal and ventral views of Quasipaa boulengeri in life from Cao Bang Province, Vietnam: a) and b) male, and c) and d) female.

From 2015 to 2023, 26 adults (14 males and 12 females) were collected. North-eastern Vietnam was the destination with both wet and dry seasons visited. Streams within the evergreen forests of Phia Den National Park were chosen to be surveyed.

Flushing the frogs out was done with a single frog-friendly technique. From the frogs handled, contents were sent to the laboratory for analysing. Each one also had data collected such as location and frog characteristics.

Insects are the daily meal of these slimy creatures and 30 prey categories (892 items) were found within the stomach contents. Roaches, Beetles and Grasshoppers were the most frequently found in both males and females. Males ate the larger prey width-and-length-wise despite being the smaller party. Volume of diet was significantly larger in males than females also.

A change of the season didn't help much to define each sex. There were no significant differences of feeding frenzies in drier or wetter conditions.

Dietary composition (%) of Quasipaa boulengeri with regards to frequency of occurrence, numeric proportion, volume proportion, and overall importance value of each prey taxon for males (n = 14) and females (n = 12)

With this interesting information, scientists can fully identify conservational and further development of the frog. The lack-of meals available to a species can see their numbers dwindle or even be wiped out completely. Furthermore, exposing any drastic changes in the habitat, of these endangered beings, can be amended quicker than without said data.