The kangaroo, antechinus, opossum, koala and bandicoot are some of the animals with pouches. Here’s another one, a frog.
Marsupial, generally, is a term meant for a group of mammals, which carry around their young in a pouch. Usually the young are under-developed and are protected by their mother’s pouch to survive until a certain age. The marsupial frog does the same thing. The only difference is that, the frog is an amphibian and still makes leaps like other frogs do.

The marsupial frog is a small arboreal or tree-dwelling frog. It has suction pads at the tip of its fingers and toes, which is common among treefrogs – probably to help them stick when leaping between branches. What it does and other frogs don’t is, it carries its young or eggs in a pouch around its back. The marsupial frog however may be from various genera with a slightly different child-bearing practice.

Another marsupial frog, Fritziana goeldi seen here with eggs on its back.

The Australian marsupial frog (Assa darlingtoni) for example deposits a few large eggs into moist soil before the child-bearing can take place. Guess who will be carrying the tadpoles? It is the male! The male of the Australian marsupial frog possesses slit-like openings on its hips which act as little pouches to carry its finless tadpoles after the eggs are hatched. From the soil, only about half of the tadpoles, from about 8-18 eggs, will make it to the male’s pouch. The male will be going around carrying its kids until about 48-69 days later until the metamorphosis is completed and baby frogs emerge from their father’s skin.

Another marsupial frog, from the genus Gastrotheca, it is the female who will carry the eggs. This time, the eggs are kept under its mother’s skin only until they are hatched. The tadpoles will receive no further protection from mother and are released into water. What is amazing about the marsupial frog of this genus is the way the eggs are deposited into the female’s pouch. To do this, the female will need some help from the male. After attracting a female with its call, the male will try to mount the female and positioning itself on the female’s back. With its hind legs, the male will open the pouch and transfer the eggs into the pouch, inseminating it at the same time.