Perhaps you already know that rain frogs make silly noises. Well, scientists recently described a new species of rain frog, and it too makes a weird noise. The Boston rain frog (Breviceps batrachophiliorum) is native to Boston, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Three friends came across the species back in 2018, and photos and videos of it are just now circulating widely, because a newly published research paper has introduced it as a new species to the scientific community.
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“In September 2018, I went with two friends (Dylan Leonard & Cormac Price) to the Midlands, in search of the Bilbo’s Rain Frog,” wrote Nick Evans in a Facebook post sharing photos of the Boston rain frog. “A thunderstorm with heavy rains had just passed—perfect for Rain Frog activity. We pulled over on the side of the road after hearing Rain Frogs calling. We didn’t notice the call being any different to the one on the frog app, at the time, we were just focused on finding one of the calling frogs. Rain Frogs are not easy to find. Eventually, we found one, however, it was not the Bilbo’s Rain Frog we were after. [. . . ] It turns out, we were looking at a new species!”
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The friends took recordings and photos of the grumpy-looking rain frog and sent them to experts. The experts, including Les Minter and Louis Du Preez, ended up publishing a paper that identifies B. batrachophiliorum as a new species.
See Evans’ post here:
But What Does It Sound Like?
If you don’t already love this story, just wait until you hear this rare rain frog croak. (Warning: It’s way cuter than any croak I’ve ever heard.)
Watch and listen as this newly described frog makes a surprising noise:
Header image from du Preez, L., Netherlands, E., & Minter, L. (2025). A new Rain Frog (Anura: Brevicipitidae; Breviceps) from the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, South Africa. African Journal of Herpetology, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2025.2478896
