When most of us think about the food chain, we imagine snakes eating frogs, not the other way around. But a recent viral image shared by Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers of a baby eastern brown snake emerging from a green tree frog turned that assumption on its head.
According to Dr Ian Brennan, Senior Scientist and Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Queensland Museum, the scene may look shocking – but it’s not impossible.
“Frogs will eat just about anything they can fit in their mouth,” Dr Brennan explains.
Green tree frogs are opportunistic and indiscriminate predators. While they commonly feast on insects, they’re also capable of consuming small vertebrates – including other frogs, lizards, fish, birds and even snakes. If the prey can be swallowed whole, it’s potentially on the menu.
In the case of the baby snake, Dr Brennan suggests it likely travelled almost the entire way through the frog’s digestive tract. Snakes have relatively tough, overlapping scales and can tolerate low-oxygen conditions for short periods. That means a small snake swallowed whole may remain intact long enough to pass through the frog’s system largely undigested.
It’s unusual – but not unheard of.
Similar events have been documented with blind snakes, which have armour-like scales and are adapted to burrowing through soil. That same ability may help them move through a predator’s digestive system.
One of the key differences between frogs and other predators is how they feed. Unlike snakes or crocodiles, most frogs do not tear apart or incapacitate their prey. They swallow it whole. That means whatever goes in, goes in intact, sometimes with unexpected results.
While today’s frogs are small enough to fit comfortably in your hand, the fossil record tells a different story. During the time of the dinosaurs, a prehistoric frog called Beelzebufo roamed the Earth. Estimated to be around 4 kilograms or roughly the size of a small dog or cat, it would have been a formidable predator in its ecosystem and put the mighty Toadzilla to shame!
So just remember it seems frogs are far more formidable than their gentle croaks suggest and sometimes, even the smallest creatures can turn the food chain upside down.
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