Fabulous               Frogs

 
 

 
 
 

Most of the pictures and facts below are from the May, 1995, National Geographic article  "Lurid and Lethal" and the March, 1991, Ranger Rick special issue on frogs.

Funny Frogs

Red Eyes

 
 

"Glass Frog" with Eggs

 
 
 

Pygmy Marsupial Frog (Carries her eggs in a pouch on her back)

 
 

"Jabba the Hut"

 
 
 

"Flying Frog" (He glides with his large webbed toes.)

 
 

Argentine Horned Frog (eats small birds and rodents)

 
 
 

Chinese Fire-Bellied Toad

 
 
 
 

"Chunky Toes" (Australian Tree Frog)

 
 
 

"Tomato Frog" from Madagascar

 
 
 
 

Spots

 
 

Whoa!

 
 

Frog Beauty I

 
 

The Hitchhiker

 
 
 

Red-Eyed Profile

 
 

Malaysian "Eyelash Frog"

 
 

Immature "Eyelash" Frog

 
 

Frog Beauty II

 
 

 
 
 
 

Hitchhiker Two

 

 
 
 
 
 

Frog Facts

 

Named for the Biblical giant, the "Goliath Frog"  is the biggest frog in the world.  He can weigh up to seven pounds, which is the size of the  average house cat.

 
 
 
 

The "Little Grass Frog" is the smallest frog found in  North America.  He is smaller and weighs less than an  acorn. It would take 3,000 of these "Little Grass Frogs" to weigh as much as one "Goliath Frog"

 
 
 

Its large snout makes the Spatulate-Nosed Frog easy to identify. When the weather is too hot and dry it crawls into a hole  and plugs up the entrance with its nose.

 
 
 

Dull colors and pointed flaps of  skin make the Asian horned frog look like the leaves it sits on.  This frog also has tough spades on its feet for  digging out a home in the dirt.

 
 
 

The South African bullfrog doesn't  look like it's afraid of anything.  It puffs itself up and turns on its enemies as a way of saying  "Go Away!"

 
 
 

The red-eyed tree frog can climb  even tiny branches.  Extra-wide toes help it get a better grip, enabling it to climb a vertical  sheet of glass.....

 
 

.....like this!

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Poison Arrow Frogs

Bright colors often mean danger!  Poison  arrow frogs are as dangerous as their  name suggests.  Indians in South America take poison from their skin  to coat the arrows they use for hunting.  A single ounce of poison from one type of poison arrow frog is  enough to kill 100,000 animals.

 
 

 
 

The skin of the poison arrow frog has tiny pores  which secrete batrachotoxins (deadly poisons). Touching or tasting the frog can cause  irreversible muscle contractions, leading to  heart failure and sudden death.

 
 

A rain forest native rubs a dart tip on a poison  arrow frog, being careful to touch only the toes.  Now he is ready to hunt.  The poison will remain  potent for more than a year.

 
 
 

Even this tarantula will back off when it sees the tiny, two-inch long, poison arrow frog.

 
 

 
 
 
 

The rain forest is so wet that poison arrow frogs lay their eggs in small pools formed inside plants. The mother returns often to check on her baby and to lay another egg as food for the developing tadpole.

 
 
 

Some kinds of poison arrow frogs lay their eggs under leaves in the forest.  They stand guard over the eggs.  When the tadpoles hatch, they  wriggle onto a parent's back and are transported to a pool of water.  A special gooey glue secreted by the parent helps the tadpole to cling tightly.

 
 
 

When the tiny frogs are large enough,  they can leave their "pad".

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Oops!

 

When kept in captivity, the poison arrow frog  slowly becomes less poisonous, and it's offspring are not toxic at all.  Their bright colors fade  somewhat, also.  The change may be due to diet.  The frog's natural menu--mostly insects such as tropical ants and springtails--cannot be duplicated in a terrarium.

 

 

.....and no, they don't live around here!

 
 

 
 

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