Frog Facts

Frog Facts

1. Frogs are amphibians characterized by a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes and the absence of a tail.

2. Adult frogs follow a carnivorous diet, mostly of arthropods, annelids and gastropods.

3. Frogs are most noticeable by their call, which can be widely heard during the night or day, mainly in their mating season.

Common Toad

4. A popular distinction is often made between frogs and toads on the basis of their appearance, but this has no taxonomic basis. From a taxonomic perspective, all members of the order Anura are frogs, but only members of the family Bufonidae are considered "true toads".

5. The use of the term "frog" in common names usually refers to species that are aquatic or semi-aquatic with smooth and/or moist skins, and the term "toad" generally refers to species that tend to be terrestrial with dry, warty skin. An exception is the fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina): while its skin is slightly warty, it prefers a watery habitat.

6. Frogs are generally recognized as exceptional jumpers, and the best jumper of all vertebrates. The Australian rocket frog, Litoria nasuta, can leap over 50 times its body length.

7. A tree frog is any frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Tree frogs are usually tiny, as their weight has to be carried by the branches and twigs of their habitat. Typical for tree frogs are the well-developed discs at the finger and toe tips; the fingers and toes themselves as well as the limbs tend to be rather long, resulting in a superior grasping ability.

8. Many frogs are able to absorb water and oxygen directly through the skin,especially around the pelvic area.

9. Camouflage is a common defensive mechanism in frogs. Most camouflaged frogs are nocturnal, which adds to their ability to hide.

10. Some frogs have the ability to change color, usually restricted to shades of one or two colors. Tree frogs usually have smooth skin, enabling them to disguise themselves as leaves. Some frogs change color between night and day.

11. Many frogs contain mild toxins that make them unpalatable to potential predators. For example, all toads have large poison glands,the parotoid glands ,located behind the eyes, on the top of the head. Some frogs, such as some poison dart frogs, are especially toxic.

12. Some frogs, such as some poison dart frogs, are especially toxic.

13. Poisonous frogs tend to advertise their toxicity with bright colors, an adaptive strategy known as aposematism. Some non-poisonous species of frogs mimic the coloration of poison frogs' coloration for self-protection.

14. Some frogs use their sticky tongues to catch fast-moving prey, while others capture their prey and force it into their mouths with their hands.

15. Some frogs even protect their offspring inside their own bodies with pouches along their side. Some swallow their tadpoles, which then develop in the stomach. Some will put the tadpoles in their vocal sac for development. Some species of frog will leave a 'babysitter' to watch over the frogspawn until it hatches.