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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Dendrobates tinctorius "azureus" (top) and Dendrobates leucomelas (bottom).

Poison dart frog (also known as dart-poison frog, poison frog or formerly known as poison arrow frog) is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to tropical Central and South America. These species are diurnal and often have brightly colored bodies. This bright coloration is correlated with the toxicity of the species, making them aposematic. Some species of the family Dendrobatidae exhibit extremely bright coloration along with high toxicity — a feature derived from their diet of ants, mites and termites— while species which eat a much larger variety of prey have cryptic coloration with minimal to no amount of observed toxicity. Many species of this family are threatened due to human infrastructure encroaching on their habitats.

These amphibians are often called "dart frogs" due to the aboriginal South Americans' use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of blowdarts. However, out of over 170 species, only four have been documented as being used for this purpose (curare plants are more commonly used for aboriginal South American darts) all of which come from the genus Phyllobates, which is characterized by the relatively large size and high levels of toxicity of its members. (Full article...)

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

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Did you know?

... that Telmatobius ventriflavum (pictured) was not discovered until 2012, despite being located near a major highway?
... that the East Bay Vivarium is the oldest and largest retail vivarium in the United States?
... that the tadpoles of the Sri Lanka rock frog and the Kirtisinghe's rock frog are often found on wet rocks near mountain streams?
... that the tadpoles of the critically endangered Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (pictured) literally eat the skin off their fathers' backs?
...that the Northern Red-legged Frog is a near-threatened species, whose male defends breeding pond territory with nocturnal displays?