Facts About Frogs

Frogs are the most common amphibians with a fairly wide worldwide distribution. They are found in most of the areas of the world except polar regions, some oceanic islands and the driest of deserts. The life of a frog starts in water as an egg and then the egg develops into a tadpole. In the next phase, the frog develops completely and becomes capable of living on land too; this phase is counted as the second life of a frog. The tadpoles shed their skin when growing up into a frog. There are more than 5000 known species of frogs. These species are different in sizes and colours. Frogs have protruding eyes and webbed toes. Frogs are carnivores and eat insects, small snakes, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, worms, and many other small insects and flies. You can easily identify a frog with its croaking sound. Although they are found in ponds and marsh lands, but you will also find them croaking in streets and gardens when it rains. Frogs are known as creepy, weird, and scary creatures. But just like other creatures, these weird creatures also have some unique and interesting facts. Let us explore the most familiar amphibian here. 

 

Fast Facts 

Scietific Name: Varies with species
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Suborder: Archaeobatrachia, Mesobatrachia, Neobatrachia
Genus: Rana
Species: More than 5000
Weight: Up to 3 kg (Varies with species)
Size: Length: 1 cm to 30 cm
Diet: Carnivorous (Annelids, Anthropods & Gastropods)
Natural Habitat: Tropic to Sub-arctic
Age of Maturity: 2-4 years
Life Span: 1-15 years
Gestation Period: Varies with species 

Interesting And Fun Facts About Frogs

• Frogs breathe through their skin.
• 88% percent of amphibians are frogs.
• Frogs don’t prefer eating a dead insect or fly. They will starve and wait for a living one.
• Frogs are found all over the world, but you will never find them in polar regions, like Antarctica.
• Frogs are cold-blooded animals. Their body temperature is same as the temperature of air and water around them.
• Unlike human beings, a frog’s tongue is attached to the front of their mouths. When a frog notices an insect, then it throws its sticky tongue towards the prey and wraps the insect in the tongue.
• Among the various species of frogs, goliath frog is the largest one measuring 30 cm and gold frog is the smallest one with a size of 1 cm only.
• A frog has a very good sight. It can see in nearly all the directions by bulging out its head.
• The eardrum of a frog helps in differentiating between the two sexes. In case of female frog the eardrum is smaller than the eye, while in a male frog, the size of eardrum is same as its eye.
• Recently a purple frog has been rediscovered in India. This purple frog has no head, but a pointed nose. The purple frog doesn’t croak, but it makes a chicken-like sound.
• The strong back and webbed feet of a frog help it in jumping long distances. Many frogs can jump 20 times higher than the size of their body.
• In the year 2008, the new specie of frogs, the vampire flying frog, was discovered in the mountain jungles of Vietnam. The word vampire doesn’t mean that it is a blood sucking creature. However, it has received this name, just because it has vampire like fangs to jump from one tree to another. Vampire frog never lands on ground.
• In their expedition to discover extinct species of frogs, the scientists have discovered new species of frogs in Columbia that include the poison-secreting rocket frog and two toads.
• Wood frogs are titled as ‘the freezing frogs’, because they freeze themselves when their surroundings freeze. And when the surrounding defrosts, so do the wood frogs. Just like other frogs, the wood frogs never move to warm places to hibernate.
• In May 2010, another species of frog was discovered in the Foja Mountains. This frog has a Pinocchio like long nose and therefore it has been named as Pinocchio frog.
• Frogs don’t drink water from their mouths; instead they absorb it with their skin.
• Frogs never close their eyes. Moreover, their eyes remain open when they sleep.
• The structure of frog’s feet and legs vary depending on the place of their habitation. Frogs living in water have webbed toes and the ones living on trees have toe pads that help in gripping the vertical surfaces. Ground-dwelling or burrow frogs have toe extension and muscular hind legs that help them to burrow.  
• The camouflage feature of frogs enables them to escape predators. Some frogs can even change their colour to shades of two to three colours, like browns, greys, reds, oranges, greens, and blues. For example, white frog has the ability to change its colour to green and brown.
• There are some poisonous species of frogs too that make them unpleasant to the predators. Golden poison frog is the most poisonous one who can kill almost 10 humans or 20,000 mice.
• Frogs have teeth along their upper jaw which are used to chew the food before swallowing. These teeth are so weak that they can’t use them for catching a prey and therefore they use their tongue for this purpose.   
• Frog has a three-chambered heart that helps it having higher metabolic rate. The heart of a frog receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and de-oxygenated blood from the respiring tissues. The unique structure of its heart minimizes the chances of mixing of the two types of blood, thus making the frog active.
• The nervous system of a frog contains brain, spinal cord, and nerves. The structure of a frog’s brain is somewhat similar to human beings.