Showing posts with label Amphibians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amphibians. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Frog Teeth


We just learned about frogs eating their skin, and breathing through it.

When frogs eat, they don't chew up their food like other predators with big teeth.
They only have some teeth on their upper jaw, and they use it to hold on to their food and swallow it whole.


(from: wikipedia - frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Venom

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Frog Skin


We just learned about tadpoles.

Frog skin is very interesting, because many frogs breathe through their skin underwater.

Frogs also shed their skin, pull it off and then eat it!

Some frogs even have poison come off of their skin for protection.


(from: wikipedia - frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Fangs

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Tadpoles


We just learned a little about frog eggs, called Frogspawn.

When the eggs hatch, they turn into Tadpoles or pollywogs.

They are born with little flat tails, gills for breathing, and cartilage for bones.
As they get older, they will start to grow tiny lungs that they can use along with their gills to breathe.

Tadpoles mostly eat algae, but some bigger ones will eat insects or tiny fish.
They are in danger of being eaten by fish, large insects and birds, so some tadpoles are poisonous to protect themselves.

Eventually they will start to grow legs as they are on their way to becoming a frog.
This could be as fast as a week, or as long as a year!


(from: wikipedia - frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Skull

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Frogspawn


We just learned about the Masked Tree Frog that looks like it is wearing a mask.

When frogs are babies, they are born in eggs, like a chicken.
Their eggs are in water, and are usually clear and covered in a kind of jelly.

Baby frog eggs are called Frogspawn.
Some frogs lay their eggs in long strings, some lay them into soft dirt, and some lay their eggs in foam.
Other frogs lay their eggs in trees and then drop into the water.

The eggs usually hatch after about a week.


(from: wikipedia - frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Skeleton

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Masked Tree Frog


We just learned about the Yellow Spotted Climbing Toad, the only toad that lives in the trees.

Another type of frog is the Masked Tree Frog, also called the New Granada cross-banded tree frog, or Smilisca phaeota.
They live mostly in Middle and South America, in tropical forests.

They get the nickname of masked tree frog because they look like they have a black mask on.
The black mask covers their eyes, which helps them hide from predators.


(from: wikipedia - new granada cross-banded tree frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Molting

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Yellow Spotted Climbing Toad


We just learned about the Square Marked Toad that bounces around to confuse it's predators.

Another type of frog is the Yellow Spotted Climbing Toad, also called Pedostibes Hosii, or Boulenger's Asian tree toad.

These are true toads, part of the Bufonidae family.
They are the only known "arboreal" toads, which means they live in the trees.


(from: wikipedia - pedostibes hosii)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Scales

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Square Marked Toad


We just learned about the Japenese Tree Frog that lives in rice paddies in Japan.

Another type of frog is the Square Marked Toad, also called the African common toad, African toad, Egyptian toad, African bouncing toad, or Reuss's toad.

This is a true toad in the Bufonidae family, that lives in Africa.
It can grow over 5 inches long, and is a green brown color with warts.

When these toads are feeling scared, they sometimes will bounce around to confuse their predators, and try to escape.


(from: wikipedia - amietophrynus regularis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake - Internal Organs

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Japanese Tree Frog


We just learned about the African Dwarf Frog.

Another type of frog is the Japanese Tree Frog.

This frog lives in Japan, Korea, China and Russia.
They sometimes live in rice paddies and on rice leaves.

When the Japanese person Toyohiro Akiyama went to a space station called Mir in 1990, he took some of these frogs into outer space with him.

These frogs have figured out a special way to call out to each other without interrupting other frogs.
Scientists have used this to come up with better ways to use wifi networks.


(from: wikipedia - japanese tree frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snakes Forked Tongue

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

African Dwarf Frog


We just learned about the Stony Creek Frog with the special nostrils so they can hide underwater.

Another type of frog is the African Dwarf Frog.

These frogs live on the African continent around the equator.

This special kind of frog lives its whole life underwater, except when it goes to the surface to get a breath of air.
They have no tongues and no teeth! So when they want to eat they use their claws to grind up their food, and then push it down into their mouth with their feet.


(from: wikipedia - african dwarf frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snake Biology

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Stony Creek Frog


We just learned about the Rhacophorus that lays its eggs in foam in a tree.

Another type of frog is the Litoria Wilcoxii, also known as the Stony Creek Frog or Wilcox Frog.

This type of frog lives in Australia.

They have a special nose, with the nostrils right at the end so they can stick just the tip of their nose out of the water and hide the rest of their body under water to stay away from predators.

(from: wikipedia - litoria wilcoxii)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Anaconda

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Rhacophorus


We just learned about the Wallace's Flying Frog.

Another type of frog is the Rhacophorus.

This is another type of flying frog that has webbing in between it's toes.


(from: wikipedia - rhacophorus)

These frogs live in the trees, and lay their eggs in a type of spongy foam in the tree.
When the eggs hatch, the tadpoles drop out of the sponge, and drop down to the water below.


(from: wikipedia - rhacophorus arboreus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Timor Python

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Wallace's Flying Frog


We just learned about the Mission Golden-eyed Tree Frog or Amazon Milk Frog.

Another type of frog is Wallace's Flying Frog.

It is only about 100 milimeters long, and has long toes with webbing in between.
With these big feet that are almost like wings, this frog can float like a parachute down from trees, or even jump and glide from tree to tree.

These are very bright and colorful frogs, with a shiny green back, a yellow or white belly, and yellow coloring on it's toes.


(from: wikipedia - wallace's flying frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mandarin Ratsnake

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog


We just learned about the Bornean Eared Frog.

Another type of frog is the Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog, also called the Amazon milk frog or blue milk frog.

This frog lives in the Amazon rainforest in South America.
They are about 4 inches long, with light grey and black bands on them.

The "milk" in their name comes from the milky liquid that comes off of their bodies when they get scared.
This gooey milk can help them slip away from an animal that is trying to eat them!


(from: wikipedia - mission golden-eyed tree frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vietnamese Long Nosed Snake

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Bornean Eared Frog


We just learned about the Lemur Tree Frog.

Another type of frog is the Bornean Eared Frog.

This type of frog has bones in it's skull behind the eyes, so it looks like it has big pointy ears, and that's where it gets its name.
They mostly live in southeast asia, in ponds or near forests.

They can come in a few different colors like brown, grey or yellow, and they have thin black stripes on their legs and thighs.




(from: wikipedia - polypedates otilophus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gray Banded Kingsnake

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Lemur Tree Frog


We just learned about the Hourglass Tree Frog.

Another type of frog is the Lemur Tree Frog.

This type of frog lives in South America, in rain forests.

One fun thing about this frog is that it is green during the daytime, but it's skin color changes to brown at night.
This makes it easier for this frog to hide during the night time.


(from: wikipedia - hylomantis lemur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Madagascar Tree Boa

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Hourglass Tree Frog


We just learned about the Puerto Rican Crested Toad.

Another type of frog is the Hourglass Tree Frog.

This frog is yellow with a pattern on it's back in the shape of an hourglass.
They live in North and South America, in areas where it is very warm and tropical.

These frogs are very special because they can lay their eggs on land or in water.


(from: wikipedia - dendropsophus ebraccatus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Headed Python

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Puerto Rican Crested Toad


We just learned about the Wyoming Toad.

Another type of frog is the Puerto Rican Crested Toad.
This is a true toad that only lives in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

At one time scientists thought these frogs were extinct, but then in 1966 some were found, and so the zoos and aquariums worked to help bring the frogs back by releasing over 260,000 tadpoles in the last 20 years.


(from: wikipedia - puerto rican crested toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Wyoming Toad


We just learned about the Vietnamese Mossy Frog.

Another type of frog is the Wyoming Toad.

These are true toads, and they are on the Endangered Species list.
At one time, people thought they were all gone, but then they found 25 of them in the wild, so they collected them and brought them to zoos and other places so they could save them and try to bring the numbers of toads back up.

There are still almost none of these toads in the wild, so the zoos are working hard to bring them back.
These toads have problems with certain types of fungus that grows in the wild, as well as some types of pesticides used to kill mosquitos.


(from: wikipedia - wyoming toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bushmaster

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Vietnamese Mossy Frog


We just learned about the Banded Bullfrog.

Another type of frog is the Vietnamese Mossy Frog, or theloderma corticale.

These frogs are found in rainforests in Northern Vietnam, China and Laos.

They get their name because they have bumpy green and brown skin that looks like moss growing on a rock.
This helps them hide from animals that would want to eat them!

If these frogs get scared, they will curl up into a ball and play dead.


(from: wikipedia - theloderma corticale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Banded Bullfrog


We just learned about the Coqui Frog.

Another type of frog is the Banded Bullfrog, sometimes also called the chubby frog, asian painted frog, rice frog or bubble frog.

These are narrow mouth frogs, with round bodies, brown backs and cream colored bellies.
They have stripes down the sides of their body that can be tan or pink.

The chubby frogs are very slow but they eat a lot.
Sometimes they can be seen in the forest sitting by an ant trail, eating ants one by one, up to a hundred ants!

(from: wikipedia - banded bullfrog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indochinese Spitting Cobra