TAILED FROG

(Ascaphus truei ), the single species of the frog family Ascaphidae (order Anura). It is restricted to cold, clear forest streams of the American Pacific northwest. The tail found on the male is actually an extension of the cloaca, an internal chamber that receives waste materials and reproductive products. This extension serves to transfer sperm directly into the cloaca of the female in the swift current of mountain streams.