Natal ghost frogs can be found throughout the higher forested regions of Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa. With larval requiring two years to fully develop, the ghost frog breeds only in fast moving perennial streams. The name “ghost” is derived from the animals elusive nocturnal forging habits and because of the abundant numbers found in South Africa’s Skeleton Gorge.
The plaintive rain frog is also native to Eswatini, Lesotho, and South Africa. The head, with its short and flat snout, appears disproportionate to the rotund body. The limbs are also short and stout and lack webbing between the toes. It prefers habitats ranging from temperate forests, shrubland, and grasslands to dry savannas.
Unlike most frogs with their prominent bulging eyes, the spotted shovel-nose frog has small eyes mounted on a small head. The pointy snout is flat and hardened with a cushion of bony material. The upturned nose is used as a shovel for digging into the ground. The heels also feature a keratinized ridge to assist in burrowing; the frog lives most of its life underground. Burrowing frogs typically dig into the ground rear first, the spotted shovel-nose frog goes in head first.
The frogs depicted are the Natal ghost frog, Hadromophryne natalensis, the plaintive rain frog, Breviceps verrucosus, and the spotted shovel-nose frog, Hemisus guttatus.
