African Clawed Frog

We just learned about the Tomato Frog.

Another frog is the African Clawed Frog.

This frog gets its name from having three short claws on its back feet, that it uses to tear up it's food.

One awesome thing about this frog is that along with the Northern Leopard Frog, this was the first type of frog to go into outer space!
In 1961, the Russian space program took some frogs up with them to do some science experiements, and they took the African Clawed Frog and the Northern Leopard Frog, to see how they would do in space.


(from: wikipedia - african clawed frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Puffing Snake

Tomato Frog

We just learned about the Waxy Monkey Tree Frog.

Another type of frog is the Tomato Frog.

These frogs get their name because they look like a big red tomato.
They live mostly in Madagascar, and their bright color is to warn off predators because they are poisonous.


(from: wikipedia - dyscophus antongilii)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pacific Gopher Snake

Waxy Monkey Tree Frog

We just learned about the Pouched Frog.

Another type of frog is the Waxy Monkey Tree Frog.

This frog gets the monkey part of it's name because it only ever walks through the trees, never hopping, so sometimes they look like monkeys.

These frogs never come down from living in the trees.
They lay eggs on leaves, and then fold the leaf over like a sandwich.
When the eggs hatch, they fall out of the leaf and drop into the water to live as tadpoles, until they become frogs and climb up into the trees.

These frogs have chemicals on their skin that have been used to create medicines as painkillers.


(from: wikipedia - phyllomedusa sauvagii)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ring Necked Snake

Pouched Frog

We just learned about the Gray Tree Frog.

Another type of frog is the Pouched Frog.

This is a small red-brown frog with stripes that lives in Australia.

When the frog's eggs hatch, they stay in a small pocket on the hip of the male frog until they get bigger and turn into tiny frogs.

(from: wikipedia - pouched frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: False Coral Snake

Gray Tree Frog

We just learned about the American Bullfrog.

Another type of frog is the Gray Tree Frog.

Many of the poison dart frogs we learned about were very colorful to warn off predators.
Other frogs that are not poisonous have to use camouflage to hide so they don't get eaten.

The Gray Tree Frog can also be green, black or white depending on where they live and where they need to hide.
They are tree frogs, and they almost never leave the trees.
These frogs are nocturnal, meaning they are awake at night, and sometimes can be found by windows and porch lights where bugs are flying around because of the lights.


(from: wikipedia - gray tree frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Grass Snake

American Bullfrog

We just learned about Poison Dart Frogs.

Another type of frog is the American Bullfrog.
These frog get their name because they make a low deep croak that sounds like a bull's roar.

Just like there are some types of frogs called Bufonidae that are called "True Toads", there are also some types of frogs called Ranidae, that are called "True Frogs", and the bullfrog is a true frog.

Unlike a lot of other animals, the female bullfrog is usually larger than the male frog, and the male bullfrogs have yellow throats.
When a group of male bullfrogs gets together in a group, it is called a "chorus".
The male bullfrogs will all get together and croak to call out for female bullfrogs.

Bullfrogs can grow to be 6 inches long, and can jump 10 times their body, length. That means a 6 inch frog could jump 5 feet!


(from: wikipedia - american bullfrog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sri Lanka Cat Snake

Poison Dart Frogs

We just learned about the Mimic Poison Frog & Splash-back poison frog.

There are many other types of poison dart frogs, and they come in just about every color and every type of decoration.
Some have stripes, some have polka dots, some have strange shapes, and some are just bright red, yellow or blue.
These frogs use their bright colors to warn people and predators not to eat them or touch them, because they might get sick or die.

(from: wikipedia - excidobates)


(from: wikipedia - oophaga)


(from: wikipedia - ranitomeya amazonica)


(from: wikipedia - blue poison dart frog)


(from: wikipedia - yellow-banded poison dart frog)


(from: wikipedia - phantasmal poison frog)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spiny Bush Viper

Mimic Poison Frog & Splash-back poison frog

We just learned about the Golden Poison Frog.

There are a lot of poison frogs in the wild, but some are not that poisonous, they just look a lot like other poisonous frogs so they don't get eaten.

The Mimic Poison Frog looks just like the Splash-back poison frog, but the Mimic is not as dangerous.
The Mimic still has some poison but not as much, but other animals can't tell the difference so they don't eat the Mimic frog just in case it is a super poisonous Splash-back!


(from: wikipedia - mimic poison frog)



(from: wikipedia - splash-back poison frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indian Cobra

Golden Poison Frog

We just learned about the Common Suriname Toad.

Another type of frog is the Golden Poison Frog, also known as the Phyllobates Terribilis.
This frog is the most poisonous frog in the world, and one frog has enough poison to kill about 20 people.
It makes the poison in its body after eating certain kinds of bugs.
If they don't eat the same bugs that they eat in the wild, their skin stops being poisonous.

There are about 170 different types of poison frogs, just like the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog that we already learned about.
Scientists are trying to learn ways to use the poison that comes from these frogs, to maybe come up with helpful medicines.



This frog also has a morph called the "Mint Green" morph.

(from: wikipedia - golden poison frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Emerald Tree Boa

Common Suriname Toad

We just learned about the Red Eyed Tree Frog.

Another type of frog is the Common Suriname Toad, also called the star fingered toad.
Just like some of the other toads we've learned about, this is not a "True Toad", it is a frog with a toad name.

This is a flat grey toad that lives mostly in the water.
One really interesting thing about this toad is that they don't lay eggs in the water like a lot of frogs.
The mother carries the eggs around inside the skin on her back, in little pockets like a honeycomb.
The eggs hatch and the tadpoles stay inside the mother's back until they grow into tiny little toads, and climb out of their mother's back.




(from: wikipedia - common suriname toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Green Tree Python

Red-eyed tree frog

We just learned about the Goliath Frog.

Another frog is the Red-eyed tree frog.

This type of frog is a very colorful frog, with a mostly green body, red eyes, yellow and blue stripes on it's body and orange or red toes.

Just like other tree frogs, this frog has sticky feet they use to climb trees and jump from tree to tree.

They use their red eyes to scare away animals that might eat them.
When the other animal comes close they open their red eyes up wide, and sometimes it scares away the other animal.


(from: wikipedia - agalychnis callidryas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Corn Snake

Goliath Frog

We just learned about the smallest frog in the world, the Paedophryne Amauensis.

The largest frog in the world is the Goliath Frog.

This frog can grow to be over a foot long and weigh over seven pounds!


(from: wikipedia - goliath frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blue Krait

Paedophryne Amauensis

We just learned about the Mountain Chicken Frog.

Another frog is the Paedophryne Amauensis.

It is the smallest frog in the world, and is less than half an inch long!
Unlike a lot of other frogs, this tiny frog does not start out as a tadpole, the eggs hatch into tiny little baby frogs.

The first part of the name paedophryne means child-frog, and there are a few other types of tiny little frogs in the same family as the Amauensis, but this is the tiniest one.
Their croak is a high pitched chirp, almost like an insect, which is why no one found them for a long time!


(from: wikipedia - paedophryne amauensis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coral Snake

Mountain Chicken Frog

We just learned about the Purple Frog.

Another type of frog is the Mountain Chicken Frog.

This frog is called the mountain chicken because it lives in the mountains and is so large it was hunted a lot for food.
Some people think it tastes like chicken, or it is big enough to eat like a chicken.

It is one of the largest frog in the world and can grow to be 8 inches long.
This frog eats a lot, and will eat anything from crickets and millipedes to snakes, bats and even other smaller frogs!
Because it was hunted for food a lot, there are not a lot of these frogs left, so it is now illegal to hunt them.


(from: wikipedia - leptodactylus fallax)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blunthead Tree Snake

Purple Frog

We just learned about the Darwin's Frog.

Another frog is the Purple Frog.

This frog stayed hidden for a long time and nobody ever knew about it, because it kept itself buried in the mud, and only came out during big monsoon rainstorms.
It has a funny sounding croak that almost sounds like a chicken clucking.


(from: wikipedia - purple frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Southern Hognose Snake

Darwin's Frog

We just learned about the Common Midwife Toad.

Another type of frog is Darwin's Frog that lives in South America.
It is called Darwin's frog because it was discovered by Charles Darwin in 1841.

The white and brown on the frog makes it look like a dead leaf laying on the ground when they are sitting still trying to hide.

One very interesting thing about this type of frog is that the male frogs carries the eggs inside their mouth until they are ready to hatch.


(from: wikipedia - darwin's frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Green Vine Snake

Common Midwife Toad

We just learned about the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog.

Another type of frog is the Common Midwife Toad.

Even though it is called a Toad, it is not part of the "Bufonidae" family, so it is a frog.

This frog lives in Europe, grows to about 2 inches. It can be brown, grey or green with has dark spots on it, and warts on it's smooth skin.

One of the most interesting things about this frog is that the eggs are carried by the male frog.
After the female frog lays the eggs, the male frog picks them up and sticks them to his back legs and carries them around until they are hatched.
He can carry around 150 eggs, for 3 to 8 weeks!
He keeps them wet by lying in damp places, or going for a swim if they are drying out.


(from: wikipedia - common midwife toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Striped House Snake

Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog

We just learned about the Edible Frog.

Another type of frog is the Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog.

This type of frog is poisonous, and it gets the poison on its skin from eating certain types of ants and mites.

One way that animals show that they are poisonous is to have bright colors.
This type of frog has many different types of colors, called "morphs".
There is the "La Gruta" morph which means "The grotto" or "The cave" which is green and yellow with black spots.
Another funny one is called the "Blue Jeans" morph, because it looks like the red frog is wearing blue jeans.


(from: wikipedia - strawberry poison-dart frog)

La Gruta Morph:

(from: wikipedia - strawberry poison-dart frog)

Blue Jeans Morph:

(from: wikipedia - strawberry poison-dart frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Massasauga

Edible Frog

We just learned about the Panamanian Golden Frog.

Another type of frog is the Edible Frog.

This type of frog is trapped and then served as frog legs for food in places like France.


(from: wikipedia - edible frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Schnauzer

Panamanian Golden Frog

We just learned about the European Fire Bellied Toad.

Another type of frog is the Panamanian Golden Frog.

This frog is part of the true toad family.
Remember that all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads.
And some frogs are called toads, and some toads are called frogs.

The people in Panama love this golden frog, and put pictures of it all over the place.
There are even stories saying that when this frog dies it will turn to gold and bring good luck.
This frog even has it's own holiday, "National Golden Frog Day" on August 14th.

The skin of this frog is poisonous, and was used long ago to make poisonous arrows.

When this frog wants to talk to other frogs, it will wave its arms around.
Scientists think this is because the frogs live close to noisy rivers and couldn't really hear each other croaking well, especially because they don't really have normal ears and can't hear well.


(from: wikipedia - panamanian golden frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pekingese