Frogs Are Beautiful Too!

Facts about Frogs

Many frogs, especially those that live in water, have webbed toes. The degree to which the toes are webbed is directly proportional to the amount of time the species lives in the water.

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 their body length (5.5 cm), resulting in jumps of over 2 meters.

Many frogs are able to absorb water and oxygen directly through the skin, especially around the pelvic area. However, the permeability of a frog's skin can also result in water loss. Some tree frogs reduce water loss with a waterproof layer of skin. Others have adapted behaviours to conserve water, including engaging in nocturnal activity and resting in a water-conserving position.

Camouflage is a common defensive mechanism in frogs. Most camouflaged frogs are nocturnal, which adds to their ability to hide. Nocturnal frogs usually find the ideal camouflaged position during the day to sleep. Some frogs have the ability to change colour, but this is usually restricted to shades of one or two colours.

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. The chemical makeup of toxins in frogs varies from irritants to hallucinogens, convulsants, nerve poisons, and vasoconstrictors. Many predators of frogs have adapted to tolerate high levels of these poisons. Others, including humans, may be severely affected.

The skin of a frog is permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide, as well as to water. There are a number of blood vessels near the surface of the skin. When a frog is underwater, oxygen is transmitted through the skin directly into the bloodstream. On land, adult frogs use their lungs to breathe. Frogs breathe by taking air in through the nostrils (which often have valves which close when the frog is submerged), causing the throat to puff out, then compressing the floor of the mouth, which forces the air into the lungs. In August 2007 an aquatic frog named Barbourula kalimantanensis was discovered in a remote part of Indonesia. The Bornean Flat-headed Frog (B. kalimantanensis) is the first species of frog known to science without lungs.

Although care of offspring is poorly understood in frogs, it is estimated that up to 20% of amphibian species may care for their young in one way or another, and there is a great diversity of parental behaviours.  Some species of poison dart frog lay eggs on the forest floor and protect them, guarding the eggs from predation and keeping them moist. The frog will urinate on them if they become too dry. After hatching, a parent (the sex depends upon the species) will move them, on its back, to a water-holding bromeliad. The parent then feeds them by laying unfertilized eggs in the bromeliad until the young have metamorphosed. Other frogs carry the eggs and tadpoles on their hind legs or back.

Some frog calls are so loud, they can be heard up to a mile away. The call of a frog is unique to its species. Frogs call by passing air through the larynx in the throat. In most calling frogs, the sound is amplified by one or more vocal sacs, membranes of skin under the throat or on the corner of the mouth that distend during the amplification of the call. The field of neuroethology studies the neurocircuitry that underlies frog audition.

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Comments

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by t.lshanbhag on 2008-11-27 09:54:08

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by radz on 2008-11-27 10:04:33 wow awesome pix

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by gilie on 2008-11-27 10:12:38

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by priyal on 2008-11-27 10:19:39

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by emmet on 2008-11-28 00:37:14

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by adchesney on 2008-11-28 14:43:02 Wow these are great...is it possible to have these in high resolution pictures, so that I can print them as posters for use in the school classroom?    Your help would be appreciated andrew(at)HG2G.com    ANDREW

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by shaikhanoof on 2008-11-29 11:35:51 its very beautiful

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by jbfour on 2008-11-30 21:51:03 these are some really great pics. never knew that there were so many varies of frogs

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by dandijat on 2008-12-03 19:28:51 most of them are poisonous...

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by ASHOK SHETTY on 2008-12-20 20:43:22 hi

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by ASHOK SHETTY on 2008-12-20 20:43:56 hi

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by ASHOK SHETTY on 2008-12-20 20:52:49 hi

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by sangli7 on 2009-04-14 20:47:54 Hi Ashok  Wow! That was really cool. I have frog that comes into my garden every summer and he is so used to me pottering around my gardening that he just sits there and watches me. This year he has brought a mate with him. They are very interesting to watch.

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by kunal_ngh on 2009-11-02 06:25:51 yaaa....sach me...Frogs Are Beautiful Too!hehehe....

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by NULL on 2009-11-02 20:44:19 cool pics

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by do vijay on 2009-11-12 14:29:17 hai

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by rjkarthik_009 on 2010-01-14 04:18:59

Frogs Are Beautiful Too! Written by skumaresan on 2010-02-23 12:52:39

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