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\nWhat are frogs?<\/b><\/p>\n

Frogs are a kind of small animal belonging to a group called vertebrates (animals with backbones) known as amphibians. <\/a>This means that they live part of their life in water and the other part of it on land. The word amphibian comes from 2 Greek words, “amphi” which means “both” and “bios” which means “life”. Amphibians are cold-blooded animals. This means that their body temperature is the same as the surrounding temperature. Their skin absorbs water into their body so they do not have to drink water to survive.<\/p>\n

$\"frog$ The Cricket frog<\/a> (4cm or 1.5 inches long) can leap 40 times its length in one jump!<\/center>How big is the biggest and how small is the smallest?<\/b><\/p>\nThe largest frog is the giant or Goliath frog<\/a> of West Central Africa. It can grow up to more than 1 ft long (30 cm). The largest frog in America is the Bullfrog<\/a>. It can grow up to more than 6 inches long.<\/p>\n
The smallest frog in the Southern Hemisphere is the Brazilian Gold Frog (Brazilian Psyllophryne Didactyla) at 9.8 millimetres (approx. 3\/8 of an inch). In the Northern Hemisphere, the smallest frog is the Monte Iberia Eleuth<\/a>, discovered on a mountain in Cuba in 1996. They measure about 9.6 – 9.8 mm long. Recently (2010), Scientists have discovered a frog the size of a pea on the South-east Asian island of Borneo. The adult males range in size from 10.6 – 12.8 millimetres, making them the smallest found in Asia, Africa or Europe. This newly discovered amphibian has been named Microhyla Nepenthicola<\/a>. It is a name of a plant in Borneo on which it lives.<\/p>\n
Frogs are special. They can breathe by means of the lungs and also through their skin. This is because of the way their heart is formed. It has 3 chambers instead of the normal 4.<\/p>\n
Where do frogs live?<\/b><\/p>\n
Frogs can be found almost anywhere except the Antartica. However, most species are found in tropical regions. More frogs are found in warmer countries. You can find frogs in water or near places that have water like ponds and streams. However, some frogs will never enter the water. They live mainly on land and go to the water only to mate. Then, there are some kinds that live in trees. These frogs have tiny sticky pads on their fingers and toes to help them cling to the tree trunk as they climb. Some frogs are burrowers. Burrower frogs live on land and have short hind legs and cannot hop. Frogs that live in cold winter places, hibernate during this time. They hibernate either in burrows or buried in mud bottom of ponds.<\/p>\n
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\nFrogs also have webbed feet for swimming.
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\nSome have suction disks on the tip of their toes to help them climb.
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\nThe back feet of the Spade-Foot toad<\/a> has a special hard spur to make it easier for burrowing.
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\nSome have large webs to assist them in gliding in the air, almost like flying.
\n Examples of Gliding Frogs<\/a>
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\nThe spines on the males’ front feet help them to grip on the female during mating.<\/center>How does a frog catch an insect?<\/b><\/p>\n
The frog’s diet consists mainly of insects, small animals like earthworms, minnows and spiders. Most frogs have a sticky tongue. To catch an insect, the frog flips out its tongue rapidly, get the insect and retracts its tongue. Frogs will swallow their prey in one piece because they only have teeth in the upper jaw. Doesn’t do much for chewing! Frogs hunt mostly at night.<\/p>\n
Find out more about what frogs really eat and how different species catch their prey<\/a><\/p>\n
Make A Frog Mask<\/a> to show the children how a frog catches its prey with its tongue.
\nPrint out the template. Use a party blower for the tongue.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n
Do you know that some frogs do not have a tongue?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Find out more here – tongueless frogs<\/a><\/p>\n
How does the frog protect itself from the enemy?<\/b><\/p>\n
The frog has enemies that will eat them. They are bats, heron, fish, racoons, turtles, snakes and even human beings. Human beings eat them and also destroy their natural habitat and prevent them from breeding. Different species of frogs have different kinds of protection.<\/p>\n
Some have poison glands in their skin, like a chemical warfare tactic !. The skin will secret and cover the body with the poison and this will deter the enemy from eating them. Some use colors to protect themselves. Some will be a very brightly colored body (especially red and yellow) to warn enemies that it taste bad or are poisonous, so stay away! An example of this is the Poison Arrow Frog (Poison-dart)<\/a>. The American Native Indians used their poison for their arrows<\/a>. The Malaysian Leap Frog will show bright colors to confuse its enemy. Others will use their color as camouflage to blend into the environment to hide from their enemies. The Red-Eyed Tree Frog<\/a> does this pretty well.<\/p>\n
Frogs also have bulging eyes. This is to enable them to have a panoramic view (can view in all directions) and avoid the enemy.<\/p>\n
$\"eyes$ <\/center>Some will try to fool the enemy by puffing themselves up with air to make it look too big to be swallowed. An example is the Tomato frog<\/a>. Then there is this False-Eyed frog which hunches over to show its two false eye spots at the back. The spots also ooze out a foul smelling liquid. The eye spots are to scare the enemy away and if that does not work, it hopes to deter the enemy from eating it by the foul smell.<\/p>\n
The Leopard Frog<\/a> will play dead by keeping very still and holding its breath to avoid being eaten.<\/p>\n
Some will give out a loud scream to startle the enemy to drop them. Some will urinate as it jumps away to give it a bad taste and also to cover their scent.<\/p>\n
Singing Frogs?<\/b>
\n $\"reedfrog$ The male frogs are the ones that sing. Different species sing different songs. Males are the ones that have the loud voice. Some females have voices too but they are softer. The males sing (grunts, croaks) to attract the females for mating. Some frogs even have a vocal sac which fills with air and swells up to make the voice even louder, like an amplifier (refer to picture). Some males use their voice as a territorial call to warn other males of the same species that this is their territory.<\/p>\n