📸 PhotoPhoto: ncueeleo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Brown-backed Odorous Frog
Odorrana swinhoana (Brown-backed Odorous Frog · Brown-backed Odorous Frog)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 The female length of about 8 cm is almost equal to three Korean 500-won coins (26.5 mm in diameter) lined up side by side (79.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Hualien County guide materials introduce Lushui Heliu Trail, Baiyang Trail, Liyu Lake, and Fenghuang Waterfall as good places to observe this frog (Hualien frog guide in the Taiwan Digital Archives).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Brown-backed Odorous Frog is a medium-to-large frog commonly seen in mountain valleys, streams, and below waterfalls in Hualien County, Taiwan, living in valleys for 1 full year.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
A medium-to-large frog measuring about 8 cm in females and about 6–7 cm in males, its back is green, brown, or a mix of both, with broken and indistinct dorsolateral folds, a white belly, and expanded adhesive pads at the fingertips.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Its breeding season is mainly spring and autumn, and its call sounds like a bird chirping 'chu.' It attaches large white eggs in small clusters under stones, and its tadpoles are blackish brown.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2020) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/58727/63848879
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 48SGT
- • iucnredlist.org — 63848879
- • wikidata.org — Q1038816
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Odorrana swinhoana 115906911.jpg
- • museum03.digitalarchives.tw — 505-1-1.pdf
- • bok.or.kr — contents.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Beth Reinke · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Rana sierrae)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.