Most puddle frogs deposit hundreds to thousands of eggs in ponds, streams, or pools, but a small number of species deposit small clutches of eggs in stagnant water found in tree holes, in empty fruit capsules, within snail shells, or terrestrially (Rödel, 1998; Rödel and Ernst, 2002; Zimkus et al., 2012). Species exhibiting these alternative reproductive modes include P. dendrobates, P. guineensis, P. krefftii, P. phyllophilus, P. sandersoni, and P. tokba, although all have free-living tadpoles (Amiet, 1981; Rödel, 1998; Rödel and Ernst, 2002).

Zimkus et al. (2012) found that most Phrynobatrachus species breed in small bodies of water and have aquatic eggs with free-living, feeding tadpoles. However, reproductive modes that provide autonomy from permanent water bodies evolved independently at least seven times.