Portal:Frogs

The Frogs Portal

Various types of frog

A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek ἀνούρα, literally 'without tail'). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" Triadobatrachus is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar (250 million years ago), but molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history.

An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail (the tail of tailed frogs is an extension of the male cloaca). Frogs have glandular skin, with secretions ranging from distasteful to toxic. Their skin varies in colour from well-camouflaged dappled brown, grey and green to vivid patterns of bright red or yellow and black to show toxicity and ward off predators. Adult frogs live in fresh water and on dry land; some species are adapted for living underground or in trees.

Frogs typically lay their eggs in the water. The eggs hatch into aquatic larvae called tadpoles that have tails and internal gills. They have highly specialised rasping mouth parts suitable for herbivorous, omnivorous or planktivorous diets. The life cycle is completed when they metamorphose into adults. A few species deposit eggs on land or bypass the tadpole stage. Adult frogs generally have a carnivorous diet consisting of small invertebrates, but omnivorous species exist and a few feed on plant matter. Frog skin has a rich microbiome which is important to their health. Frogs are extremely efficient at converting what they eat into body mass. They are an important food source for predators and part of the food web dynamics of many of the world's ecosystems. The skin is semi-permeable, making them susceptible to dehydration, so they either live in moist places or have special adaptations to deal with dry habitats. Frogs produce a wide range of vocalisations, particularly in their breeding season, and exhibit many different kinds of complex behaviors to attract mates, to fend off predators and to generally survive. (Full article...)

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Adult male

The cane toad (Rhinella marina), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean, as well as Northern Australia. It is a member of the genus Rhinella, which includes many true toad species found throughout Central and South America, but it was formerly assigned to the genus Bufo.

A fossil toad (specimen UCMP 41159) from the La Venta fauna of the late Miocene in Colombia is morphologically indistinguishable from modern cane toads from northern South America. It was discovered in a floodplain deposit, which suggests the R. marina habitat preferences have long been for open areas. The cane toad is a prolific breeder; females lay single-clump spawns with thousands of eggs. Its reproductive success is partly because of opportunistic feeding: it has a diet, unusual among anurans, of both dead and living matter. Adults average 10–15 cm (4–6 in) in length; the largest recorded specimen had a snout-vent length of 24 cm (9.4 in). (Full article...)

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Photograph of the Italian tree frog Hyla intermedia. Its natural habitats are the temperate forests, rivers, and freshwater marshes of countries like Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland. It feeds on small invertebrates such as flies, mosquitoes and midges. In the breeding season, dominant males establish territories near a pond or other body of water and advertise themselves by calling. Other male frogs, known as "satellites" may lurk nearby and try to intercept females attracted by the territorial males' calls.
Photo credit: Benny Trapp

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General images

The following are images from various frog-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Crapaud et Grenouille ("Frog and Toad") by Jean Carriès, between 1889 and 1894 (from Frogs in culture)
Image 2Roman lamp mount shaped like a frog. (from Frogs in culture)
Image 3Torrent treefrog
Litoria nannotis
Hylidae
Australia (from Torrent frog)
Image 4Red-eyed treefrog, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (from Tree frog)
Image 5Old Dutch tile from Friesland (from Frogs in culture)
Image 6Freddo Frog advertisement, 1930 (from Frogs in culture)
Image 7Wrestling frogs from Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, cartoon, Japan, 12th century (from Frogs in culture)
Image 8"My Old Friend Dr. Frog". Promotional postcard for "Frog In Your Throat" Company throat medicine (from Frogs in culture)
Image 9Dead Frog with Flies by Ambrosius Bosschaert II, c. 1630 (from Frogs in culture)
Image 10European treefrog (Hyla arborea) (from Tree frog)
Image 11Gladiator treefrog (Hypsiboas rosenbergi), Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (from Tree frog)
Image 12Vietnamese folk painting "Lão oa giảng độc" (from Toad)
Image 13Early Dynastic (c. 3000 BC) frog statuette) (from Frogs in culture)
Image 14Common tree frog, Polypedates leucomystax, Rhacophoridae, southern to eastern Asia (from Tree frog)
Image 15Frog pictured in the coat of arms of Baloži (from Frogs in culture)
Image 16Hermenegildo Bustos, Still life with fruit, 1874 (from Frogs in culture)
Image 17Detail of Josiah Wedgwood's Frog Service, 1773–4, made for Catherine the Great of Russia (from Frogs in culture)
Image 18Ascaphus montanus tadpole (supine position), showing the large oral sucker (from Tailed frog)
Image 19Big-eyed tree frog, Leptopelis vermiculatus, Hyperoliidae, Tanzania (from Tree frog)
Image 20Entre ciel et terre, by Gustave Doré, 1862 (from Frogs in culture)
Image 21Black torrent frog
Micrixalus saxicola
Ranidae
India (from Torrent frog)
Image 22White-lipped bright-eyed frog, Boophis albilabris, Mantellidae, Madagascar (from Tree frog)
Image 23Powdered glass frog, Cochranella pulverata, Centrolenidae, Honduras to Ecuador (from Tree frog)
Image 24Malabar tree toad, Pedostibes tuberculosus, Hyperoliidae, India (from Tree frog)
Image 25A frog being eaten by King Stork, an illustration by Milo Winter in a 1919 Aesop anthology (from Frogs in culture)
Image 26Vietnamese folk painting "Nhân nghĩa" (from Toad)
Image 27Gray tree frog, Hyla versicolor, Hylidae, eastern North America (from Tree frog)
Image 28American green tree frog, Dryophytes cinereus or Hyla cinerea, Hylidae, central and southeastern United States (from Tree frog)
Image 29Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) (from Flying frog)
Image 30Common toad, female and male on her back. (from True toad)
Image 31Frog and Mouse by Getsuju, a Japanese artist of the Edo period (from Frogs in culture)
Image 32Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee 2016 (from Frog jumping contest)
Image 33Eungella torrent frog
Taudactylus eungellensis
Myobatrachidae
Australia (from Torrent frog)
Image 34Moche frog, 200 AD (from Frogs in culture)
Image 35American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) (from True toad)

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Did you know?

... that the Iberian frog includes beetles, caddisflies and spiders in its diet?
... that a Corroboree frog described in a monograph by John Alexander Moore was featured on an Australian postage stamp?
...that leopard frogs are an environmental indicator species?
... that Lehmann's poison frog is not toxic in captivity because its poison derives from food it eats only in the wild?
... that the giant spiny frog is the largest frog in Hong Kong?