The desert rain frog, a rotund amphibian that uses its stumpy legs to dig rather than jump, has been declared vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The species, which lives only in a narrow strip of coastal South Africa and Namibia, faces a projected 20% population decline over the next decade due to diamond mining, development projects like the Boegoebaai port and rail project, and urbanization.

Dr Jeanne Tarrant, executive director of Anura Africa, calls it a completely unique species that has adapted to the harsh desert environment, exhibiting the least typical frog behavior - frogs usually like it moist and tropical, but this one lives in the dunes. The frog's famous high-pitched squeak, which sounds like a dog toy and has gone viral on social media, is actually a distress call, often elicited by humans poking it with a stick. This has led to a surge in online searches for how to obtain one as a pet, though it's unclear if actual frog-napping is occurring.

The frog spends most of its time burrowed in sand, using its back feet as shovels to descend about 30cm to a damp layer. It can stay there for months, living off oxygen in the soil. When it surfaces, it searches for patches of water formed by condensed fog, absorbing moisture through a highly vascularized pink patch on its belly that acts like blotting paper. Its rotund body actually helps prevent moisture loss - a long, thin body would evaporate more water.

A favorite snack is fat-rich termites, which the frog finds irresistible even when full, often ending up with termite wings sticking out of its mouth. Reproduction involves the male gluing himself to the female with a secretion on his chest and forearms, after which the female digs a chamber and lays eggs. Unfertilized eggs liquefy, and tadpoles whip the liquid into a foam that traps oxygen. Conservationists say the best way to protect the species is to conserve the sand dunes where it lives, as it occurs nowhere else on Earth.