The pond and lake frog belongs to the class of amphibians. It has a body length of 7-10 centimeters. Her skin is bright green with brown tint. There are dark spots and a white longitudinal stripe on the back, and the belly is white.
The frogs' eyes are bright golden. In spring, near ponds and swamps, their loud mating concerts can be heard. These animals winter in the forest, buried in soft soil or in warm ponds. Already in the second half of April, when the air warms up to 8-10 degrees, frogs begin mating games. The female lays eggs on the bottom of the swamp or on the stems of aquatic plants. One frog can lay 400-1800 eggs. Tadpoles of light olive or green color soon emerge from them. Frogs live up to 12 years.
The pond and lake frog feeds on insects. Its permanent menu consists of dragonfly larvae, mosquitoes, water beetles and mollusks. If there is not enough food, the frogs eat fish fry and even tadpoles. Large frogs of this species sometimes attack small animals (voles, shrews). Small birds, chicks and snakes can also become their prey. The frogs themselves also become objects of hunting for predatory fish, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Frogs of this breed live in southern and central Europe, in Central Asia and in North Africa. They are found in Crimea, the Caucasus and Kazakhstan. This species of amphibian lives in many regions of Russia.
Pond and lake frogs are often used in medicine and for experiments. They are edible, such a delicacy as frog legs are made from this particular type of frog. These animals also play a significant role in the natural food chain. Their eggs, tadpoles and themselves serve as food for many animals and fish.
Video - breeding of a pond frog.
Video: fight of lake frogs or toad fight.
And another video - tadpoles of a pond frog.
Frogs (Rana) is a common and widespread name that unites a whole group of animals that belong to the order Tailless amphibians. In a broad sense, this term is applicable to any representatives belonging to the order Tailless, and in in the narrow sense the name applies only to the family True frogs.
Description of frogs
Absolutely any representatives of frogs are distinguished by the absence of a pronounced neck, and the head of such amphibious animals seems to merge with a short and fairly wide body. Complete absence The tail of frogs is reflected directly in the name of the order, which unites all amphibians. It should be noted that frogs have simply unique vision, so they do not close their eyes during sleep, and are also able to simultaneously look forward, up and to the side.
Appearance
The frog has a large and flat head, on the side of which there are bulging eyes. Along with other land vertebrates, frogs have upper and lower eyelids. Under the lower eyelid of the amphibian, a nictitating membrane is found, which is called the “third eyelid”. Behind the eyes of an amphibian there is a special area covered with thin skin called the eardrum. Two nostrils with special valves are located above a huge mouth with small teeth.
The frog's front legs are characterized by the presence of four rather short toes. The hind legs of the animal are strong and well developed, equipped with five fingers, the space between which is covered with a specially leathery membrane. There are no claws on the animal's fingers. The only excretory part is located in the posterior region of the frog's body and is represented by the so-called cloacal opening. The frog's body is covered with bare skin, quite thickly lubricated with special mucus, which is abundantly secreted by the animal's numerous special subcutaneous glands.
This is interesting! The size of frogs depends on the species, so European frogs most often do not exceed one decimeter, and African goliath frogs are a kind of record holder in terms of size, therefore, with a half-meter size, they weigh several kilograms.
Dimensions adult frog vary noticeably depending on the species, but most often vary within 0.8-32 cm. The color of the skin is also very diverse and can be brownish, yellow, green or unusual variegated coloring. Many members of the family prefer to camouflage themselves with herbaceous vegetation, foliage or branches, and therefore have characteristic green, gray and grayish-green skin.
War coloring, as a rule, indicates that the frog is poisonous, which is explained by the presence of special glands on the skin that produce substances that are toxic and harmful to human or animal health. Some frogs easily mimic, imitating dangerous amphibians to escape from enemies.
Character and lifestyle
Frogs are able to move perfectly on land, as well as make huge jumps, climb the crowns of tall trees and dig underground holes. Some species are characterized by the ability not only to swim perfectly, but also to run, walk, quickly climb trees, and even easily glide from a height.
K very interesting features frogs include the absorption of oxygen through the skin. This process is quite successfully carried out on land or in water, due to which the animal belongs to the category of amphibians. However, European grass frogs, which are very widely known in our country, approach water bodies only during the period of active reproduction.
This is interesting! Activity indicators different types and subspecies are very different, so some of these amphibians prefer to hunt exclusively at night, but there are bright representatives who remain tireless twenty-four hours a day.
An interesting fact is that frogs need lungs in order to make rather loud and peculiar sounds called croaking. Sound bubbles and resonators help the amphibian produce the widest range of sounds, which is most often used to attract the opposite sex during the breeding season.
Periodically, adult frogs shed their skin, which is not an organ necessary for the life of an amphibian animal, and then eat it in anticipation of the growth of new skin. According to their lifestyle, all true frogs are sedentary loners, prone to short-term migration to short distances only during the breeding season. Species that live in temperate zones hibernate with the onset of winter.
How long do frogs live
Unique animals that are very prominent representatives from the order Tailless amphibians, they have different life expectancies. Its definition in natural conditions carried out by the method of skeletochronology, which allows you to correctly assess the individual growth rate and the onset of puberty.
This is interesting! According to scientists, a significant part of frog species live in nature for no more than ten years, but numerous observations have shown that certain species and subspecies have life cycle, amounting to thirty years.
Sexual dimorphism
Permanent and seasonal sexual dimorphism is a characteristic characteristic of many amphibians, including some species of frogs. Some poison dart frogs are characterized by enlargement of the finger pads of males, which is used by the amphibians when tapping on the ground and helps to actively attract females. Males of some species are distinguished by greatly enlarged eardrums. Seasonal dimorphism is caused by the presence of so-called gonadotropic hormones in the animal’s body.
This is interesting! There are species in which, upon visual inspection, it is impossible to determine their gender in accordance with only one characteristic, so it is necessary to compare several morphological characteristics at once.
One of the most striking and pronounced sexual characteristics that are characteristic of male frogs is the formation of nuptial pads as a response to changes in the hormonal levels of the testes.
In the frog, such pads are formed on the lower part of the forelimbs, on the fingers and near the mouth, due to which all mature males remain in a mated state with the female even when there is strong movement of water or attack by other animals.
Types of frogs
Today there are more than 550 species of amphibians called frogs. The True frogs family is represented by several subfamilies: African forest frogs, disk-toed and toad frogs, dwarf and true frogs, as well as shield-toed frogs.
Many species are incredibly popular among indoor amphibian connoisseurs and are kept as exotic pets. Most interesting views presented:
- Dominican tree frog;
- Australian tree frog;
- some poison dart frogs or;
- smooth clawed frog or aibolit frog;
- red-eyed tree frog;
- lake frog;
- sharp-faced frog;
- spadefoot.
The most unusual species of frogs currently include the transparent or glass frog, poison frog cocoa, hairy and flying frogs, bullfrogs, as well as clown frogs and sharp-nosed tree frogs.
This is interesting! Species may have significant differences in structure. For example, copepods have a flattened, as if crushed, body, while piglet frogs, on the contrary, have a swollen body.
Range, habitats
Vertebrates have become widespread in almost all countries and continents, and are also found even in arctic snow conditions. But frogs give preference precisely to tropical forest zones, where there is simply a huge variety of species and subspecies of such amphibians. Frogs primarily inhabit fresh water bodies.
True frogs are representatives of the family Anura amphibians, which have become almost universally distributed, with the exception of South America, southern Australia and New Zealand. Our country is inhabited mainly by the grass frog (Rana temporaria) and the pond frog (Rana esculenta).
It should be remembered that the distribution of some subspecies and species of frogs may well be limited natural causes, including rivers, mountain ranges and deserts, as well as man-made factors represented by highways and canals.
In tropical conditions, the diversity of amphibian species is much greater than in zones characterized by cold or temperate climate. Certain species and subspecies of frogs are able to live even in salt waters or beyond the Arctic Circle.
Diet of frogs
Insectivorous frogs belong to the category of predatory animals. These amphibians eat with great pleasure large number mosquitoes, as well as all kinds of butterflies and small invertebrate animals. Particularly large adult insectivorous individuals do not disdain prey that is even more impressive in size, which can be represented by some species of animal frogs and relatively small relatives of their own.
This is interesting! Frogs of many species bring great benefits to people. They actively destroy and eat many worms, bugs and insects that are harmful and dangerous to humans and plants.
Hunting for their victims is carried out by frogs using sticky and fairly long tongue, which deftly catches midges, dragonflies, moths and other winged creatures directly in flight. Among the currently existing species and subspecies of frogs, omnivorous amphibians are also known, which happily use fruits or berries for food.
Frogs belong to the largest order of amphibians - tailless ones. There are thousands of varieties, this issue contains 10 of the strangest and most unusual.
The rainbow frog is an object of worship in India. Hundreds of people flock to Reji Kumar's house in India every day to pray and ask for miracles. The frog was shimmering white when Reggie, from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala in southern India, first saw it. Then it glowed yellow and then turned gray. A frog that constantly changes color is considered a god in India.
Hyalinobatrachium pellucidum - Also called the glass frog or transparent frog due to its transparent skin through which its insides can be seen. Unfortunately, this is an endangered amphibian species.
The harlequin frog is known by many names, such as the clown frog or the Costa Rican harlequin toad. Whatever you call it, it is a neo-tropical frog that used to be a fairly common species in Costa Rica and Panama. Now this species is listed in the Red Book; frogs of this species live today mainly in Panama.
The northern leopard frog is considered an unusual species, reaching a length of up to 9 cm. The colors on its back range from brown to dark green, and the round spots are distinguished by a white line.
It is believed that the higher the geographic altitude, the larger the animal living there. However, the world's smallest frog lives precisely at altitude - in the Andes of southern Peru at an altitude of 3 - 3.19 meters.
The paint dart frog, like this blue subspecies, is the common name for a group of frogs in the poison dart frog family, which is native to Central and South America. Unlike most frogs, this species is active during the day and almost always has brightly colored bodies. Although all dart frogs are poisonous to some extent, levels of poison vary depending on the subspecies and population. Many subspecies are in danger of extinction. American Indians used their poison for their arrows and darts. (Gail Shumway/Getty images 2007)
The Goliath frog is the largest surviving species of toad on Earth. Its dimensions reach 33 cm in length from the muzzle to the cloaca, and it weighs up to 3 kg. This species lives mainly in western Africa, near Gabon. The Goliath frog can live up to 15 years. They feed on scorpions, insects and small frogs. These frogs have excellent hearing, but do not have a vocal resonator.
Theloderma corticale, or Vietnamese marsh frog, is a species of frog in the copepod family. It can be found in Vietnam and possibly China. Usually lives in tropical and subtropical wet forests, intermittent freshwater swamps and rocky areas. The frog is also often called the moss frog due to the fact that its skin resembles moss growing on a rock, which, incidentally, provides it with excellent camouflage. Some people keep such a frog at home. The price of this miracle is approximately 45-75 dollars.
As the name suggests, the Mantella frog is red/orange in color. These are small frogs, reaching a length of up to 2.5 cm. They live in Madagascar.
This horned frog can grow up to 15 cm in length and is native to Uruguay, Brazil, and northern Argentina. Although this hulk looks like a cake (or a pincushion, if you prefer), it reacts very quickly when a lizard, small rodent, frog or bird flies by.
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What does a person know about a frog and its way of life? Monotonous croaking summer evenings, unpresentable appearance (unpleasant to pick up), bulging eyes and mosquitoes as a favorite food (at least as shown in cartoons) - these are the main associations with the word “frog”. But it’s interesting: is a frog an animal or an insect?
Frog: external characteristics
True frogs are the most numerous representatives of the amphibian class. Various in size (body length from 30 to 250 mm), they are distributed throughout the world, with the exception of Antarctica and Australia.
Belonging to the family of tailless amphibians, frogs have more than 3,500 species that share common external characteristics. These are teeth on mildly expressed tuberculation of the skin, swimming membranes on the hind legs. The frog's head has two huge bulging eyes, which are protected by three eyelids (lower, upper and transparent nictitating membrane) and are an order of magnitude more mobile than those of fish. In front of the eyes there are through nostrils equipped with valves and opening into the oral cavity.
Is a frog an animal or an insect?
This peculiar structure of the head helps the frog to quietly track prey: plunging into the water, the animal puts its eyes and nostrils out, breathes in this way and, looking at everything around, patiently waits for its potential lunch. The frog's hearing organ is located behind the eyes. The glass frog, with its completely transparent skin, is the most striking example from which to study internal structure amphibian body organs. Through the completely transparent skin, all the insides can be clearly observed. Judging by the above description, to the question “is a frog an animal or an insect?”, one can give a clear and confident answer: of course, an animal!
Amphibians have a wide range in size. The smallest is the representative of Cuba: its length is 8.5-12 mm. The largest individual from the category of amphibians is the goliath frog, a resident of Cameroon. The weight of the most outstanding representative of the species caught was 3 kg 660 grams with a total length (with outstretched legs) 87 cm. Such large specimen and loves to live “big”, preferring crystal clean water and royally, as if on a pedestal, sitting on the ledges of rocks.
What does a frog eat?
The lurking frog is a cunning hunter, whose prey is moving individuals: spiders, insects, worms, slugs and fish fry. Having decided on the future food moving in its field of vision, the frog in the water lets the latter closer and throws out a wide sticky tongue, to which the insect sticks. The frog is able to swallow large prey, placing it in its mouth using its forelimbs. There are known cases when swallows drinking water in flight became their victims. By running, flying, crawling past her, that is, moving; a stationary object simply will not arouse interest in a tailless amphibian.
The family of tailless amphibians is most often found on the banks of reservoirs in warm time year. The animal’s movements are so expressive and sharp that it immediately becomes clear where the expressions “swims like a frog” or “jumps like a frog” came from. When making a jump, the frog sharply straightens its legs; the force generated by such a push throws the amphibian forward and upward. Landing occurs on short front legs. The frog swims just as sharply, pushing off the water with its hind legs, between the toes of which there are membranes. If we return once again to clarifying the question “is a frog an animal or an insect?”, the answer is clear: an animal!
Frogs: how they reproduce
Reproduction in frogs occurs in the spring, after waking up from hibernation. Total quantity eggs laid in various types varies and ranges from 600 to 20 thousand eggs. Tadpoles feed on unicellular algae, as well as simple rotting animals and plant debris. Frogs reach sexual maturity at 2-4 years of age with a total lifespan of 5-6 years. There have been cases where tailless amphibians have existed in captivity for more than 10 years.
The life of frogs in nature is of genuine interest because of its unusual nature. Thus, most of them leave eggs laid in the water or nearby a reservoir unattended; A minority of amphibians are concerned with parental care. For example, the male lays eggs on the back of the female, and the male Darwin's rhinoderma stores them in a special throat sac, from which the hatched and grown frogs subsequently climb out on their own.
Features of the skin of frogs
All frogs have thin, bare skin covered with mucus, which helps respiratory process and preventing drying of the skin. The mucus on the skin of frogs contains substances that protect them from harmful microorganisms. In some species, this substance is even poisonous and is a kind of amulet for frogs from being eaten by other animals. Thus, dart frogs and leaf frogs, living in Central and South America, produce the most deadly toxins on the planet.
When on land, the moisture contained in the mucus evaporates, as a result of which amphibians lose a large amount of it. It is for this reason that the habitat of frogs is the most comfortable wet area for them. The life of a frog in nature is interesting; An interesting fact is that amphibians do not drink water, replenishing the lack of water through the skin. Among all this smooth-skinned brethren, the hairy frog stands out noticeably; During the breeding season, males of this species are covered with patches of skin resembling hair. Characteristic feature The hairy frog is also able to release claws in times of danger, which, piercing the skin, form bones on the fingers.
Is the skin of frogs poisonous?
By the way, in ancient times leather served as the main component in the manufacture of arrow poison; one individual was enough to lubricate 500 units. The toxicity of frogs can be judged by their bright, downright garish coloring. Thus, the poison of the dart frog - an inhabitant of South America - even in an amount of 2 milligrams can kill a person.
Coloring also serves to camouflage the animal; The leader in this area is considered to be the mossy frog, which almost completely merges with environment, even her eyes are barely visible against the background of moss.
It is this type of frog that is very popular among exotic lovers who want to keep it as a pet. The beautiful coloration of a representative of the tropics is valued accordingly: the cost of one individual that can excellently climb rocks and tall trees, reaches $75.
Amazing facts from the life of frogs
The body temperature of amphibians is similar to the ambient temperature. The following fact has been recorded: living in Alaska in winter, it freezes to such an extent that it turns into ice. In such a frozen state, the amphibian does not breathe, blood circulation and heart function stop. With the onset of spring, the animal naturally thaws, gradually returning to normal life. Such unique amphibians capable of carrying low temperature, there are only a few species on the planet; most representatives of this class are not able to survive in such conditions.
Frogs have an increased ability to survive; examples of this have been recorded more than once. In 1835, an Englishman witnessed a block of sandstone collapse to the ground from a platform and split in the middle, and a frog jumped out of its cavity. And there are a large number of such completely reliable reports about frogs walled up inside hollow blocks; this only confirms the unique ability of frogs to survive in extreme conditions.
Can a frog fly?
In the process of evolution, this amphibian learned to fly, escaping from enemies in this way. Flying specimens, which can even change their flight path (sometimes reaching 12 meters), are characterized by spreading long, webbed fingers. Frogs, with human help, are capable of setting world records.
So, in competitions organized especially for them, held in 1977 in South Africa, a frog nicknamed Sandtji jumped 10.3 meters!
How do frogs communicate with each other?
Frogs communicate with each other in a range inaccessible to the human ear through the use of ultrasounds that are beyond human audibility. This can be explained by the noisy habitat of amphibians, in which low frequencies familiar to humans are difficult to distinguish. This feature in frogs is also facilitated by the unusual location of the hearing organ; The eardrums are located behind the eyes, inside a special cavity. According to scientists, this arrangement of ears allows frogs to overcome the water noise inherent in their habitat. The most vocal frogs can cover a radius of several kilometers. From the cry of a bullfrog, heard for the first time and associated with the roar of a huge terrible beast, you can run away without looking back.
Frogs are a group of amphibians that contain a large number of species. Description and photo, as well as many interesting facts you can find in our article.
We consider all amphibians that do not have a tail to be frogs, however, scientists would argue with us. Indeed, according to scientific classification, only a group of amphibians belonging to the family of true frogs are usually called frogs.
Today there are more than 550 species of these animals. People have a twofold attitude towards frogs: some categorically do not accept the appearance of these animals, considering it simply disgusting and repulsive, but some not only sympathize with frogs, but even keep them as pets.
The structure of all frogs is almost the same: they have a large head, bulging eyes, long hind legs and a wide mouth with no teeth. The legs of these amphibians are equipped with swimming membranes; frogs do not have a tail. In addition to similarities, there are also differences between members of the family. Depending on the species, frogs may have a distinctive body shape. For example, copepods have a flattened body, but piglet frogs, on the contrary, have a very swollen body. In some representatives of the family, the muzzle has a blunt shape, in others it is oblong, even slightly elongated.
The skin of frogs is very thin; it is always moistened with mucus, which is secreted by the animal's body. Mucus is necessary to create a protective cover for the frog: it contains substances that kill pathogenic bacteria, and also heals wounds on the frog’s body. Some representatives of the family of true frogs have mucus endowed with toxic properties; such a “weapon” is given to these animals to protect themselves from enemies. However, it is fatal dangerous slime specifically, representatives of real frogs do not have it, which cannot be said about their relatives - poison dart frogs.
The color of frogs is usually inconspicuous. Most often, their skin has camouflage shades similar to the environment in which the frog lives. There are frogs of green, gray, brown tones, sometimes decorated with spots, stripes and specks.
Despite this pattern in color, there are exceptions to the rules, for example, which has red or orange skin. This color feature is a warning to the enemy, because the mucus of this frog has adhesive properties and can even glue the mouth of a snake together!
Frogs are usually small in size: average length body length varies from 7 to 15 centimeters. However, a mini frog like the Cuban whistler only grows to 11.8 millimeters. On the contrary, there are giant frogs, including the Goliath frog. It grows up to 32 centimeters.
These amphibians live on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. They live in different landscapes; they can be found in mountains, forests, tundra and desert. Inhabited by frogs tropical forests, shores of reservoirs. The activity of all species is different: some hunt at night, and there are also species that are tireless all 24 hours.
According to their lifestyle, representatives of the family of true frogs are loners. They are sedentary and only during the breeding season can they migrate short distances over short distances. In winter they hibernate.
The food of these amphibians consists of a variety of insects: mosquitoes, bedbugs. Species that differ large sizes, can afford larger prey, for example, the chicks of some waterfowl, small snakes and small rodents, as well as bats and other frogs.
Reproduction in frogs occurs through the laying of eggs. In one clutch their number can reach 20,000! The period from the beginning of incubation to complete transformation into a frog is, depending on the species and climate zone, from 40 to 120 days.
In nature, frogs are hunted by a variety of birds: storks, herons, kingfishers,