Common Reed Frog

We just learned about the Pacman Frog.

Another type of frog is the Common Reed Frog, also known as Hyperolius viridiflavus.

This type of frog has very bright colors, and lives in the western part of the African continent.

One interesting thing about this frog is that it can change between a boy and a girl frog, depending on if there are not enough other boy or girl frogs around.


(from: wikipedia - common reed frog)


(from: wikipedia - common reed frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jamaican Boa

Pacman Frog

We just learned about the Central Coast Stubfoot Toad.

Another type of frog is the Pacman Frog, also called the South American horned frog or ceratophrys.

They are called pacman frogs because they have a big round shape and a big wide mouth, just like the video game pacman.



(from: wikipedia - ceratophrys)



(from: wikipedia - ceratophrys)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Rate Snake

Central Coast stubfoot toad

We just learned about the Eastern Narrow Mouthed Toad.

Another frog is the Central Coast stubfoot toad.

This is a true toad in the family Bufonidae.
Their vocal sac that fills up with air is not like other frogs, it is very quiet so they can only make calls to other frogs in small distances.
Because of this they have to live very close to other frogs.


(from: wikipedia - atelopus franciscus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Colorado Desert Sidwinder

Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad

We just learned about the Yellow Bellied Toad.

Another frog is the Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad.

Just like a lot of toads, this is not a "True Toad".
They get their name because they have a small mouth, and kind of a short fat body shape.

These frogs also do not have any eardrums!


(from: wikipedia - gastrophryne carolinensis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aruba Island Rattlesnake

Yellow Bellied Toad

We just learned about the African Clawed Frog.

Another frog is the Yellow Bellied Toad.

This type of frog has a yellow body with black swirls all over it's body, and heart shaped pupils.


(from: wikipedia - yellow bellied toad)



(from: wikipedia - yellow bellied toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mexican Lance Headed Rattlesnake

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