hip pocket frog

English[edit]

hip pocket frog (plural hip pocket frogs)

Either of two species of frog, Assa darlingtoni and Assa wollumbin, endemic to eastern Australia, notable in that the males have subcutaneous pouches on their hips in which they carry their tadpoles until they metamorphosize.
Synonyms: pouched frog, marsupial frog
- 2021 November 7, Lisa Cox, “New species of rare tadpole-carrying frog discovered in northern NSW”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:
  The frogs are commonly referred to as pouched or hip pocket frogs, or sometimes the marsupial frog. […] “The hip pocket frog is not only unique for its amazing breeding biology among Australian frogs, but it is also unique among frogs of the world,” said the University of Newcastle’s Michael Mahony, one of the researchers who discovered the frog.