But it does not — or rather, it has evolved beyond the need.

Roraima bush toad eggs develop directly into small toadlets without a free-swimming tadpole stage.

The entire aquatic phase of toad development has been compressed into development inside the egg, allowing the young to emerge as fully formed miniature toads capable of life on land.

This kind of adaptation — called “direct development” in amphibian biology — is unusual in toads.

It is an adaptation that allows the species to breed in environments where standing water might not be reliably available or might not be suitable for free-swimming larvae, and it is one of the clearest signals that the Roraima bush toad has been isolated on the summit long enough to evolve responses to summit-specific conditions.

Oreophrynella quelchii is not Roraima’s only endemic toad — the summit also hosts other Oreophrynella species and a collection of other endemic amphibians.