Meet Telmatobius Culeus, Lake Titicaca’s resident “scrotum frog” grabbing TikTok – and the internet as a whole – by the balls.


Advertisement

The scrotum frog’s rise from ecological obscurity to digital fame began last week after a popular (and very appropriately-named) geography influencer, Geo Ruthford, briefly touched on the amphibian in a video debunking myths surrounding the world’s highest and lowest lakes.



“A lot of the times when you look this up you’re gonna see Lake Titicaca, which is fair because it’s the highest navigable lake in the world and extremely cool,” Ruthford explained of the lake, which is located on the border of Peru and Bolivia in the Andes mountains.


“It has man-made islands and of course, the Lake Titicaca scrotum frog,” she elaborated offering a snap of the testicle-looking creature.



While Lake Titicaca did not nab the title of the world’s highest lake – a crater lake towards the top of Ojos del Salado, a dormant volcano in the Andes, snagged the honor – the titillatingly-titled body of water still managed to steal the spotlight with viewers flocking to the comments to question what the hell they just heard.


“The lake whatty what what what frog?” asked TikTok user  @2005.vauxhall_monaro_vxr.


“Hi, excuse me what is the name of my new favorite frog and why I am just learning about it now?” mused @gratefulmama617.


“YOUR GOING TO MENTION THAT FROG AND NOT EXPLAIN?!” questioned @flowerbootaego in the video’s top comment.



Largely dominating her comments section, Ruthford went balls to the wall, offering her followers an entire video dedicated to Lake Titicaca’s own nut-named amphibian.


“So I’ll only tell you if you promise not to laugh,” she commenced the clip, a reply to @flowerbootaego’s viral comment. “This is the Lake Titicaca Scrotum Frog called that because of their loose, baggy skin.”



After outlining their habitat – “These frogs can only be found at Lake Titicaca and they’re the largest solely-aquatic frog on the planet” – and the reason behind their testicle-like appearance – “scientists believe that the baggy saggy skin helps them absorb oxygen in this high altitude environment” – Ruthford shared some very titillating myths surrounding these cute little (or not-so-little) lake-dwellers.


“Local people like to eat them,” she recalled, noting that “it’s a traditional belief that the scrotum frog is an aphrodisiac,” a tradition she described as “unfortunate” considering the scrotum frog’s status as a “highly endangered” species.


So take it from the Ruthford, if you want a scrotum in your mouth opt for the real thing – our ecosystem is begging you.