The Namaqua Rain Frog is a species of frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 in the Microhylidae

Microhylidae

Microhylidae is a geographically widespread family of frogs. There are 413 species in 69 genera and nine subfamilies, which is the largest number of genera of any frog family.-Description:...

 family.
It is found in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and possibly Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

.
Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland

Shrubland

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...

 and sandy shores.
It is threatened by habitat loss.

Identification

Adult frogs attain a body length of 46 mm.

The Namaqua Rain Frog has a squat, rotund body with a short, narrow head which has a relatively large eye,a flat face and narrow mouth.
The limbs are short and stumpy and the fingers and toes lack webbing and adhesive discs. The upper body surface is brown with lighter brown to cream patches on the back and sides. These patches are occasionally fused together and may include irregular pairs of paravertebral patches.
The underside is mainly smooth and white, but the skin is translucent in parts, and the throat area may be granular with dark markings around the jaw line.

Behaviour

This frog is a burrowing species that spends most of its time underground and does not inhabit water. It occurs generally in dry, low-lying areas that are predominantly sandy and well covered with scrub vegetation - but has also been recorded in hilly areas with more loamy and rocky substrates.
When disturbed, these frogs have the ability to inflate their bodies dramatically as a defence mechanism to deter predators.
Breeding activity has been recorded in winter, spring and summer
. They spend most of their time underground surfacing after the rains to feed on insects.