Frogs Are Beautiful

History of car racing » In the 1920s, the cars used in endurance racing an... Angel Falls » Angel Falls has an upper section where it emerges ... The Amazing Apache Pistol » Amazing mostly through its original look, because ... Cat With FOUR Ears » The household pet, named Yoda, was born with an ex... The World's Highest Waterfall - Angel Falls » Set in Canaima National Park, Venezuela, Angel is... Cruel Donkey Fight in Afghanistan » Afghanistan is better known for dog fighting, but ... Milliau Viaduct, highest vehicle bridge in the wor... » You might think there’s nothing special about th... The Car Fountain » This unusual fountain set up in Rome, Italy is the... Two Faced Baby » A baby girl in India was born with two faces, two ... Tomato Fight in China » Inspired by La Tomatina Festival in Bunol, Spain, ...

Tuesday, 07 February 2012

You are here: Home

Amazing & Intresting

Frogs Are Beautiful

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 00:00

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.

Frogs Are Beautiful

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.

Frogs Are Beautiful

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.

Frogs Are Beautiful

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.

Frogs Are Beautiful

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.

Frogs Are Beautiful

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.

Frogs Are Beautiful

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.