The male Darwin's frog is the epitome of daddy daycare. His tadpoles develop in his vocal sac. But things take a turn for the weirdest when he coughs them up as full-fledged frogs ready to survive on their own.
", "is_us_only": "false", "title": "World\u2019s Weirdest: Frog Father \"Spits Out\" Young", "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/amphibians-animals/frogs-and-toads/weirdest-darwins-frog/", "country_code_deny_list": [], "allowUserEmbed": "True", "related": { "link": [ { "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/amphibians-animals/frogs-and-toads/weirdest-surinam-toad-birth/", "name": "World's Weirdest: Baby Toads Born from Mom's Back" } ] }, "credit": "National Geographic", "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/weirdest-darwins-frog.smil", "country_code_allow_list": [], "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/weirdest-darwins-frog/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/core_media/ngphoto/image/55407_0_616x346.jpg", "transcript": "A baby is the beginning of something special-usually dinner.
Just ask any tadpole.
These teeming and tasty treats are a favorite meal for bugs...fish...and even each other.
It's a rare, tough pollywog that grows up to crawl out of the water.
In its forest home of South America, the Darwin's frog resembles an overweight leaf.
But not all that extra weight is its own.
The male's vocal sac is reserved for another purpose...raising his young.
The female will lay three to seven eggs.
Those that hatch into tadpoles are gulped up by the father until they're ready to fend for themselves.
Inside his vocal sac, they transform into miniature versions of their old man.
It's a sheltered life...they don't get out much, but they make it out alive.
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