A Frog with Eyes in Its Mouth?

We’ve all been fooled by AI images online. You see something weird or incredible, share it with all your friends, then find out a few days later that it was fake. Occasionally, this happens the other way around. You spot an image, dismiss it as clearly computer-generated, then find out that it is, in fact, real. This picture being shared online right now of a frog with its eyes inside its mouth rather than on top of its head, is one such image. Yet, this frog truly exists. But to complicate matters, while this phenomenon has been documented, some of the images currently being shared online are AI-generated or digitally altered. Authentic photographs of the real animal do exist, though.

Frogs With Eyes in Their Mouths

The phenomenon of a frog with eyes in its mouth is not new. In 1992, a high school student named Deidre in Ontario, Canada, came across one such highly unusual creature. She was first alerted because the frog appeared to have its eyes shut. When she picked it up and it opened its mouth, she saw two eyes staring out at her! She contacted the local newspaper, and a crew arrived with photographer Scott Gardner. It was Gardner who captured authentic images of the frog that Deidre called Gollum, and they can be seen in reports of the event.

Gollum the American Toad

Gollum was examined by a frog expert named Professor Bogart at the University of Guelph. Bogart confirmed that Gollum was not a frog at all. He was, in fact, a male American toad (Bufo americanus). It was also noted that Gollum was at least two years old, which was quite an achievement for such an unusual animal! Gollum had somehow managed to avoid his natural predators, including snakes. American toads are found throughout large portions of North America. To survive, they need a semi-permanent freshwater pond or pool for their early development, in addition to dense patches of vegetation. These guys are found almost everywhere within their range, including in forests and backyards. American toads are often discovered beneath porches and under boardwalks in suburban and agricultural areas.

These toads are mainly nocturnal and hide under rocks during the day. At night, they feed on insects and other invertebrates, including snails, slugs, worms, and beetles. They can shoot their tongues out very quickly to snatch prey. Interestingly, they do not need to drink; instead, they absorb moisture through their skin.

The female lays 4,000 to 8,000 eggs in two rows of spiral jelly in water. After 3-12 days, these hatch into tadpoles. Legs appear from around 30-40 days as they metamorphose into adult toads. While many American toads die young, those that survive past the juvenile stage can live 5-10 years in the wild. In captivity, they are capable of living a lot longer and have survived for decades.

What Caused This Deformity?

So, what could have caused Gollum’s major change in appearance? Professor Bogart thought that maybe Gollum’s eyes had developed upside down, so they formed inside the mouth cavity rather than on top of it. He wanted to mate Gollum with a female frog to see if this characteristic would be passed on to his offspring. Deidre, however, now considered Gollum as her pet and was not willing for him to be used in this way.

If a chemical, such as a pesticide, had caused this abnormality, other frogs with similar deformities would have been spotted in the same area. That was not the case. The only other documented example of a similar deformity was found in Minnesota, and no additional confirmed cases have been reported since then.

Another possible explanation is that a parasite or a predator had been the cause of the strange development. There are plenty of both in the aquatic habitats frequented by American toads. However, injuries and parasites usually cause damage on one side of the body only; because both eyes were displaced in a symmetrical way, it was assumed that this was not the cause.

Macromutations Explained

Unusual appearances like this can also occur as a result of genetic mutations. The way animals look (their phenotype) is controlled by their DNA. If even a small change in DNA occurs, an animal’s looks can change. Most DNA changes cause very subtle differences but occasionally, what is called a macromutation takes place. Macromutations cause large phenotypic changes. So, something may have altered this toad’s DNA in a big way! It is possible that Gollum’s eye development took a wrong turn, with the result being eye lenses in the roof of his mouth.  

Whatever caused Gollum’s unusual appearance, he found a devoted human advocate in Diedre. She would not even let his body be examined by scientists after his death.