Rose's rain frog or Rose's rainfrog (''Breviceps rosei'') is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

in the family

Brevicipitidae Brevicipitidae or rain frogs is a small Family (biology), family of frogs found in eastern and southern Africa. As of 2025 contains 38 species in 5 genera. eb application 2013. Berkeley, CaliforniaBrevicipitidae AmphibiaWeb, available at http ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

sandveld Veld ( or , Afrikaans language, Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''veld'', field), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide-open, rural landscape in Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrubland, scrub, ...

of south-western coastal South Africa.Frost, Darrel
Breviceps rosei
Amphibian Species of the World 5.0, The American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved July 23, 2007. It is less-frequently known as Rose's short-headed frog, Rose's Blaasop, or the sand rain frog. Some treat ''Breviceps fasciatus'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of this species, although other authorities have expressed doubt. Frogs in this species spend most of their lives in subterranean nests under sandy ground, where they lay their eggs. They surface during heavy rain. They cannot swim, and are not found in water.

Tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s develop inside the eggs and hatch as fully formed baby frogs.Channing, Alan. University of the Western Cape. Reproduced i
Fynbos Frogs
Retrieved July 23, 2007.

Habitats

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are temperate

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

Fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

Mediterranean shrubland The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eu ...

vegetation, sandy shores,

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

, pastureland, rural gardens, and

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, and its range is restricted to less than 20,000 square kilometers. Despite this, its future seems secure, as it is very adaptable and remains locally abundant.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies found on separate coasts.Breviceps rosei
Amphibiaweb, retrieved July 23, 2007. The sand rain frog (''Breviceps rosei rosei'') occurs on the west coast of the Western Cape, and on Robben Island. The eastern Rose rain frog (''Breviceps rosei vansoni'') occurs on the south coast of the Western Cape.

Sources

Breviceps Frogs of Africa Amphibians of South Africa Fynbos Amphibians described in 1926 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{neobatrachia-stub