Toad, or real toad, belongs to the class of amphibians, order of anurans, family of toads (Bufonidae). The families of toads and frogs are sometimes confused. There are even languages ​​that use one name to identify these amphibians.

Toad - description and characteristics. What is the difference between a toad and a frog?

Toads have a slightly flattened body with a fairly large head and pronounced parotid glands. The upper jaw of the wide mouth is devoid of teeth. The eyes are large with horizontally located pupils. The toes of the fore and hind limbs, located on the sides of the body, are connected by swimming membranes. Some people ask the question why does a frog jump and a toad only walk?. The fact is that the hind limbs of toads are quite short, so they are slow, not as jumping as frogs, and swim poorly. But with a lightning-fast movement of their tongue, they grab insects flying by. Unlike toads, the frog's skin is smooth and needs to be moisturized, so the frog spends all its time in or near water. The skin of toads is drier, keratinized, does not require constant hydration and is completely covered with warts.

The toad's poison glands are located on its back. They secrete mucus that causes an unpleasant burning sensation but does not cause much harm to humans. The toad is an amphibian, colored in shades of gray, brown or black with spotted streaks, easily hiding from enemies. Bright color toad indicates its toxicity.

The size of the toad ranges from 25 mm to 53 cm, and the weight of large individuals can be more than a kilogram. Their average duration life span is 25-35 years, some individuals live up to 40 years.

Types of toads, names and photos

The toad family includes 579 species, distributed into 40 genera, of which only a third live in Eurasia. In the CIS countries, 6 species of the genus Bufo are common:

• gray or common toad;
• green toad;
• Far Eastern toad;
• Caucasian toad;
• reed or stinking toad;
• Mongolian toad.

Below you will find more detailed description these toads.

• Common toad (gray toad) (Bufo bufo)

one of the largest representatives of the family. The wide, squat body of the common toad can be painted in a wide variety of colors - from gray and olive to dark terracotta and brown. The eyes of this toad species are bright orange, with horizontal pupils. The secretion secreted by the skin glands is absolutely not toxic to humans. The common toad lives in Russia, Europe, and also in the northwestern countries of Africa. The toad lives almost everywhere, preferring to settle in dry zones of forest-steppes and forests; it is often found in parks or recently plowed fields.

• (Bufo viridis)

This type of toad has a grayish-olive coloration, complemented by large spots of a dark green tone, bordered by a black stripe. This “camouflage” coloring is an excellent camouflage from enemies. The green toad's skin secretes a toxic substance that is dangerous to its enemies. The hind limbs are long, but rather poorly developed, so the toad rarely jumps, preferring to walk slowly. This species of toad lives in Southern and Central Europe, North Africa, Western, Middle and Central Asia, found in the Volga region. A more southern species than the gray toad, in the north of Russia it reaches only the Vologda and Kirov regions. For living, the green toad chooses open places - meadows, fields overgrown with short grass, river floodplains.

• (Bufo gargarizans)

Representatives of this species may have different color bodies - from dark gray to olive with a brownish tint. There are small spines on the skin outgrowths of the Far Eastern toad, top part the body is decorated with spectacular longitudinal stripes, the abdomen is always lighter, usually without a pattern, less often - covered with small spots. The female Far Eastern toad is always larger than the male and has a wider head. The distribution area is quite wide: the toad of this species lives in China and Korea, inhabits the territory of the Far East and Sakhalin, and is found in Transbaikalia. Prefers to settle in damp places - in shady forests, water meadows, and river floodplains.

• Caucasian (Colchian) toad (Bufo verrucosissimus)

the largest amphibian found in Russia can reach 12.5 cm in length. The skin color is either dark gray or light brown. Individuals that have not reached sexual maturity are pale orange in color. The toad's habitat covers only the regions of the Western Caucasus. The Colchis toad inhabits forested areas of mountains and foothills, and is less common in wet caves.

• Reed or stinking toad ( Bufo calamita)

a fairly large amphibian up to 8 cm in length, the body color varies from gray-olive to brown or brown-sand, with green spots, the abdomen is grayish-white. A narrow yellow stripe runs along the back of the reed toad. The skin is lumpy, but there are no spines on the growths. Males have a highly developed throat resonator. A representative of this species of toad lives in European countries: in its northern and eastern parts, its distribution area includes Great Britain, the southern territories of Sweden, and the Baltic states. The reed toad is found in Belarus, western Ukraine, and the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The toad chooses the banks of reservoirs, swampy lowlands, shady and damp thickets of bushes as its place of residence.

• (Bufo raddei)

The body of this toad is slightly flattened, with a round head, slightly pointed in the front, and can reach 9 cm in length. The eyes are strongly bulging. The skin of the Mongolian toad is covered with a huge number of warts; in females they are smooth, but in males they are often covered with prickly spines. The color of the species is varied: there are individuals of light gray, golden beige or rich brown. Specks of various geometries form a spectacular pattern on the back of the toad; in the middle part of the back there is a clearly defined light stripe. The abdomen is grayish or pale yellow, without spots. The Mongolian toad chooses the south of Siberia as its habitat (it is found on the coast of Lake Baikal, in the Chita region, in Buryatia), and inhabits Far East, Korea, foothills of Tibet, China, Mongolia.

• Pineal-headed toad (Anaxyrus terrestris)

a species found only in the southeastern United States. In structure it is not very different from its relatives, the only thing characteristic feature The cone-headed toad are rather high ridges located longitudinally on the head and forming large swellings behind the eyes of the amphibian. Some individuals reach 11 cm in length; the color of the skin, covered with many warts, can range from dark brown and bright green to brown, grayish or yellow. By the way, the wart-like outgrowths are always either darker or lighter than the main color tone, so the coloring of the toad looks very variegated. The amphibian prefers to settle on light and dry sandstones with sparse plant cover. It often chooses semi-desert areas for habitat, and sometimes settles near human dwellings.

• Cricket toad (Anaxyrus debilis)

The body length of these amphibians reaches 3.5-3.7 cm, and females are always larger than males. The main color tone of the toad is green or slightly yellowish; brown-black spots are superimposed on top of the dominant color, the belly is cream-colored, the skin on the throat is black in males and whitish in individuals of the opposite sex. The toad's skin is covered with warts. The tadpoles of the cricket toad have a black lower body interspersed with golden sparkles. The cricket toad lives in Mexico and some US states - Texas, Arizona, Kansas and Colorado.

• Blomberg's toad (Bufo blombergi)

biggest toad in the world. She's bigger than the aga toad. The dimensions of Blomberg's toad are truly impressive: the body length of a mature individual often reaches 24-25 centimeters. Since the mid-20th century, the clumsy and completely harmless Blomberg's toad has, unfortunately, been almost on the verge of extinction. This “giant” lives in the tropics of Colombia and along the coast Pacific Ocean(in Colombia and Ecuador).

• Kihansi splashing toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis)

the smallest toad in the world. The size of the toad does not exceed the dimensions of a five ruble coin. The length of an adult female is 2.9 cm, the length of a male does not exceed 1.9 cm. Previously, this species of toad was distributed in Tanzania on an area of ​​2 hectares at the foot of the Kihansi River waterfall. Today, the Kihansi toad is on the verge of complete extinction and is practically never found in its natural habitat. All this happened due to the construction of a dam on the river in 1999, which limited the flow of water into the river by 90%. natural environment habitats of these amphibians. Currently, Kihansi toads live only in zoos.

We learned only some facts from the life of frogs. Continuing the topic, I suggest reading interesting facts about the frog!

Frogs are amphibians and can live both in water and on land. They have lived on earth for more than 300 million years! Scientists have recorded more than 3,500 species of frogs! The largest frog, Goliath, weighs more than 3 kg (although there was a record holder weighing 5 kg!) and reaches a length of 33 cm. One of the smallest frogs has a body length of 17 mm, and is capable of jumping up to 3 meters in length!

Average life expectancy is 18 years. Although some species live up to 36 years. But in nature, the frog has too many enemies, and therefore few become long-lived.

Frogs living in a pond are capable of laying eggs only after three years. Most species of frogs, after laying eggs, forget about their offspring. But there are also such interesting facts: hairy frogs hatch eggs in their mouths, and the snub-nosed frog in their stomach!

During the growth process, the tadpole experiences about 30 transformations! While feeding exclusively on microalgae.

Frogs do not drink water as such; they absorb it through their skin, just like air. They only partially use their nostrils for breathing.

The vision of this amphibian is also amazing. Not only can she look forward, down and to the sides at the same time, but she also does not close her eyes even during sleep.

It is believed that croaking is the very first sound heard on planet Earth! Although the croaking of some species of frogs is not at all similar to croaking, there are frogs whose singing resembles the sound of a flute and the ringing of a bell. In Japan, there is a frog that is kept in people's homes specifically to please the ears. She sings like a bird.

The hot sun is dangerous for a frog. At 39 degrees the frog dies from lack of moisture. The skin of a frog easily absorbs water, but does not give it away so easily. The mucus covering the skin does not give up moisture, which also helps it slip out of the bird’s beak, and also contains disinfectants. It is thanks to this property that Ancient Rus' the frog was thrown into the milk to prevent it from turning sour. For humans, frog mucus is absolutely harmless.

Although, of course, in nature there are many poisonous frogs, dangerous to humans.

The contribution of frogs to science is invaluable. For example, the clawed frog can even determine whether a woman is pregnant. To do this, a woman’s urine is injected under her skin, and if the result is positive, within 5 hours the frog will lay eggs! American farms extremely value the help of pest-eating frogs. They save about $30 each!

And this is just part interesting facts about frogs! They lived together with dinosaurs, they are poisonous, some frogs are eaten by people, they show us amazing metamorphoses. They certainly deserve respect.

In this video, watch a 4th grade student talk about amazing world frogs in the presentation:

Children's riddles about a frog

Now that we've learned so much interesting facts about the frog, you can solve it!

Where will you find it?
Well, of course, in the swamp!
Green like grass
He says: “KVA, KVA, KVA!”
(Frog)

We live in a swamp
We sing songs in chorus.
(Frog)

Paws come out of the fry -
Long-legged guys.
A frog is jumping in a puddle -
Long-legged... (frog).

Who is that sitting in the pond?
What is the name of this croak?
Green fatty
Her name is - (Frog)

On a hummock, soft as a pillow,
Croaks with delight (Frog)

Jump and splash along the path
Head four legs.
The head sang
Very loudly: qua-qua-qua.
(Frog)

Green, but not grass.
Cold, but not ice.
Sings, but not a bird -
This is such a tall tale.
(Frog)

Legs - flippers are green.
The pond is her “hut”.
Food - evil mosquitoes...
Same... ! (Frog)

Who lives in the swamp?
Sings croaking loudly?
They sleep in water lilies -
without a pillow?
It's obvious (Frogs)

Loves flies and mosquitoes
Yes it has a loud call,
All green I say,
House on a river and a pond.
(Frog)

Children's poems about a frog

Funny children's poems will also tell a fascinating story about the frog.

Frogs talking

— Kuma,
Are you coming to us?
- To you, to you
To you, to you!
I'm jumping to the water,
I want to catch.
- And who, whom, godfather?
- Crayfish, carp and catfish.
- When you catch it, will you give it to us?
- How not to? Of course I will!

(S. Ya. Marshak)

Frog and mouse

Little frog in the grass
I saw a mouse.
- How wonderful you are! —
He croaked loudly. —

How are you like this?
Have you become amazing?
Probably a lot
Have you experienced it?

The mouse said:
- I was born in the spring
And he was small
Like a hazelnut.

I grew up over the summer,
Walked my fur
And grains for the winter
I collected myself a handful.

The little frog sighed:
- And in my life
Everything was different -
Much more difficult.

First with caviar
I swam in duckweed.
But suddenly I have
Eyes have appeared.

I became a tadpole.
Long afterwards
I frolicked in the water
Tail wagging.

But then the paws
I have appeared
I croaked loudly
And he climbed ashore.

Caught a worm
Among the tall grass.
And here in the clearing
I met you!

Laughing frogs
Two laughing frogs
They jumped and galloped.
Paw - clap,
The other one is clap,
The cheeks were swelling.
We saw a mosquito
They shouted: “Kva-kva-kva!”
The mosquito flew away like the wind.
It's good to live in the world!

(G. Sapgir)

Little frogs

It’s raining like it’s coming out of a tub!
Little frogs disappeared into the puddle:
"We'll wait here for a bit.
So as not to get wet in the rain!”

(A. Shibaev)

Little frogs

We used to be caviar, qua-qua!
And now we are all heroes!
They were tadpoles, qua-qua!
They beat each other with their tails - one-two!
And now we are little frogs, qua-qua!
Jump off the shore, guys! At-two!
And with a tail and without a tail
Living in the world is beautiful!

(V. Berestov)

From the market

-Where are you coming from?
A frog frog?
- Home from the market,
Dear girlfriend!
- What did you buy?
- A little bit of everything:
I bought KVApustu.
KVAsol
And KVartoshka.

(V. Orlov)

Have fun learning!

Sincerely,

Lyudmila Potsepun.

We invite you to watch a fascinating video on our video channel "Workshop on the Rainbow"

1. Toads, or true toads, belong to the class of amphibians, otherwise, amphibians, to the order of tailless, family of toads.

Toads have been occupying the niche assigned to them by nature in the ecosystem of our planet for millions of years.

2. Toads are very similar to frogs. There are even languages ​​that use the same name to identify these amphibians, but they should not be identified. Frogs and toads belong to different families.

3. They live in almost all types of landscapes: steppes, forests, mountains and even deserts. Toads do not live only in Antarctica, and are also not present on isolated islands, such as New Zealand, New Guinea and Madagascar. Previously, there were no toads in Australia, but in the 20th century these amphibians conquered this continent.

4. In 1935, 102 toads were brought to Australia from Hawaii for insect control. It was planned that the toads would protect sugar cane plantations. In Australia, the toads successfully reproduced, and within two months their numbers exceeded the 3,000 mark. The toads did not destroy the sugar cane pests, as they found easier prey. And now the toads themselves are threatening Australia's biodiversity.

5. The toad family includes 579 species, distributed into 40 genera, of which only a third live in Eurasia. In the CIS countries, 6 species of the genus Bufo are common: the gray or common toad; green toad; Far Eastern toad; Caucasian toad; reed or stinking toad; Mongolian toad.

Common toad

6. The common toad (gray toad) is one of the largest representatives of the family. The wide, squat body of the common toad can be painted in a wide variety of colors - from gray and olive to dark terracotta and brown.

7.The eyes of this toad species are bright orange, with horizontally located pupils. The secretion secreted by the skin glands is absolutely not toxic to humans.

8.The common toad lives in Russia, Europe, and also in northwestern African countries. The toad lives almost everywhere, preferring to settle in dry zones of forest-steppes and forests; it is often found in parks or recently plowed fields.

Gray toad

9. In terms of their feeding method, toads are typical predators. The basis of their diet is small invertebrate animals, which include butterflies, snails, worms, insects and their larvae, as well as fish fry. The menu of large individuals may include small rodents, lizards and frogs. Toads are most active during twilight and night time. The victim is attacked from an ambush, reacting to the movement of future prey.

10. Body length various types toads can be from 2 to 25 centimeters. However, the toad's body, unlike the frog's, is heavy and wide, its legs are short, and its skin is dry and lumpy.

green toad

11. The green toad has a grayish-olive coloration, complemented by large spots of a dark green tone, bordered by a black stripe. This “camouflage” coloring is an excellent camouflage from enemies.

12.The skin of a green toad secretes a toxic substance that is dangerous to its enemies. The hind limbs are long, but rather poorly developed, so the toad rarely jumps, preferring to walk slowly.

13. This species of toad lives in Southern and Central Europe, North Africa, Western, Middle and Central Asia, and is found in the Volga region.

14. The green toad is a more southern species than the gray toad. In the north the spread green toad in Russia it reaches only the Vologda and Kirov regions. For living, the green toad chooses open places - meadows, fields overgrown with short grass, river floodplains.

15. Warty thickenings on the skin of toads are poison-secreting glands. The largest of them are located behind the toad's eyes. For humans, the venom of this amphibian is dangerous only if it gets into the mouth or eyes.

Far Eastern toad

16. Representatives of the Far Eastern toad can have different body colors - from dark gray to olive with a brownish tint.

17. There are small spines on the skin outgrowths of the Far Eastern toad, the upper part of the body is decorated with spectacular longitudinal stripes, the abdomen is always lighter, usually without a pattern, less often - covered with small spots.

18. The female Far Eastern toad is always larger than the male and has a wider head.

19. The distribution area is quite wide: the toad of this species lives in China and Korea, inhabits the territory of the Far East and Sakhalin, and is found in Transbaikalia. Prefers to settle in damp places - in shady forests, water meadows, and river floodplains.

20. Toads live on land, and not in water, as many assume. They do not jump like frogs, but crawl slowly and swim very poorly; toads often burrow into the ground.

Caucasiantoad

21. The Caucasian (Colchian) toad is the largest amphibian found in Russia; it can reach 12.5 centimeters in length. The skin color is either dark gray or light brown. Individuals that have not reached sexual maturity are pale orange in color.

22.The toad’s habitat covers only the regions of the Western Caucasus. The Colchis toad inhabits forested areas of mountains and foothills, and is less common in wet caves. 22. Although toads live on land, they breed in water (with the exception of a few species). During the breeding season, a female toad is able to crawl up to 5 kilometers to the nearest body of water.

Toad yeah

23. One toad lays from 1200 to 7000 eggs (the “clutch” looks like two gelatinous ribbons), from which tadpoles emerge a month later. 23.After 3-4 months, the tadpoles turn into toads and leave the pond.

24. In the African tropics there are viviparous species of toads.

25. Toads overwinter exclusively on land, falling into torpor.

Reed toads

26. The reed or stinking toad is a fairly large amphibian up to 8 centimeters in length, the body color varies from gray-olive to brown or brown-sand, with green spots, the abdomen is grayish-white. A narrow yellow stripe runs along the back of the reed toad. The skin is lumpy, but there are no spines on the growths.

27. Males have a highly developed throat resonator. A representative of this species of toad lives in European countries: in its northern and eastern parts, its distribution area includes Great Britain, the southern territories of Sweden, and the Baltic states. The reed toad is found in Belarus, western Ukraine, and the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The toad chooses the banks of reservoirs, swampy lowlands, shady and damp thickets of bushes as its place of residence.

28. Toad is an amphibian, colored in shades of gray, brown or black with spotted streaks, making it easy to hide from enemies. The bright color of the toad indicates its poisonousness.

Blomberg's toad

29. Blomberg's toad is the largest toad in the world. She's bigger than the aga toad. The dimensions of Blomberg's toad are truly impressive: the body length of a mature individual often reaches 24-25 centimeters.

30.Since the mid-20th century, the clumsy and completely harmless Blomberg's toad, unfortunately, is almost on the verge of extinction. This “giant” lives in the tropics of Colombia and along the Pacific coast (in Colombia and Ecuador).

Mongolian toad

31. The body of the Mongolian toad is slightly flattened, with a rounded head, slightly pointed in the front, and can reach 9 centimeters in length. The eyes are very bulging.

32. The skin of the Mongolian toad is covered with a huge number of warts; in females they are smooth, but in males they are often covered with prickly growths-spines.

33.The color of the species is varied: there are individuals of light gray, golden beige or rich brown. Specks of various geometries form a spectacular pattern on the back of the toad; in the middle part of the back there is a clearly defined light stripe. The abdomen is grayish or pale yellow, without spots.

34. The Mongolian toad chooses the south of Siberia as its habitat (it is found on the coast of Lake Baikal, in the Chita region, in Buryatia), inhabits the Far East, Korea, the foothills of Tibet, China, Mongolia.

35. The toad's poison glands are located on its back. They secrete mucus that causes an unpleasant burning sensation but does not cause much harm to humans.

Pineal-headed toad

36. The pineal-headed toad lives only in the southeastern states of the United States. In structure it is not very different from its relatives; the only characteristic feature of the cone-headed toad is rather high ridges located longitudinally on the head and forming large swellings behind the eyes of the amphibian. Some individuals reach 11 centimeters in length.

37. The color of skin covered with many warts can range from dark brown and bright green to brown, grayish or yellow. The wart-like outgrowths are always either darker or lighter than the main color tone, so the coloring of the toad looks very variegated.

38. This amphibian prefers to settle on light and dry sandstones with sparse plant cover. It often chooses semi-desert areas for habitat, and sometimes settles near human dwellings.

39. Toads prefer a solitary lifestyle and gather in groups only in mating season and in places with an overabundance of food.

40. Contrary to popular belief, you won't get warts by touching a bumpy wart like the skin or glands of a toad. The venom does not usually affect humans, however you should always wash your hands after touching the toad.

Cricket toad

41. The body length of the cricket toad reaches 3.5-3.7 centimeters, and females are always larger than males. The main color tone of the toad is green or slightly yellowish; brown-black spots are superimposed on top of the dominant color, the belly is cream-colored, the skin on the throat is black in males and whitish in individuals of the opposite sex. The toad's skin is covered with warts. The tadpoles of the cricket toad have a black lower body interspersed with golden sparkles.

42. The cricket toad lives in Mexico and some US states - Texas, Arizona, Kansas and Colorado.

43. Some people wonder why the frog jumps and the toad only walks. The fact is that the hind limbs of toads are quite short, so they are slow, not as jumping as frogs, and swim poorly.

44.But with a lightning-fast movement of their tongue, they grab insects flying by. Unlike toads, the frog's skin is smooth and needs to be moisturized, so the frog spends all its time in or near water. The skin of toads is drier, keratinized, does not require constant hydration and is completely covered with warts.

45. During the mating season, which is temperate climate begins in the spring, and in tropical climate– during the rainy season, individuals of both sexes gather near water bodies. To attract females, the male toad uses a special resonator located behind the ears or on the throat to make peculiar sounds. Climbing onto the back of an approaching female, he fertilizes the eggs she lays.

Kihansi splashing toad

46. ​​The Kihansi splashing toad is the smallest toad in the world. The size of the toad does not exceed the dimensions of a five ruble coin. The length of an adult female is 2.9 centimeters, the length of a male does not exceed 1.9 centimeters.

47. Previously, this type of toad was distributed in Tanzania on an area of ​​2 hectares at the foot of the Kihansi River waterfall. Today, the Kihansi toad is on the verge of complete extinction and is practically never found in its natural habitat. All this happened due to the construction of a dam on the river in 1999, which limited the flow of water into the natural habitat of these amphibians by 90%. Currently, Kihansi toads live only in zoos.

Great Ground Toad

48.V Lately It has become fashionable to keep amphibians at home. For their comfortable maintenance, special terrariums are used. They are placed in secluded corners of the apartment, avoiding direct rays of the sun and away from the source of loud sounds.

49. Toads live on average 10 years, but sometimes, under favorable conditions, they live up to 40 years.

50. Toads are considered useful animals, as they actively eat various garden pests and it is not for nothing that 6 species of toads are now listed by ecologists in the Red Book.

American toad in a terrarium

photo from the Internet

The frog (Rana) is a representative of the class of amphibians belonging to the order Tailless, the family of true frogs.

Description of the frog

All representatives of frogs do not have a pronounced neck; their head seems to have grown together with a wide and short body. The absence of a tail is reflected in the very name of the order to which these amphibians belong. On the sides of the large and flat head are bulging eyes. Like all land vertebrates, frogs have upper and lower eyelids. Under the lower eyelid you can find a nictitating membrane, the so-called third eyelid.

Behind each eye of a frog there is a place covered with thin skin (tympanic membrane). Two nostrils, which have special valves, are located slightly above the huge mouth with small teeth.

The front legs of the frog, equipped with four toes characteristic of all amphibians, are quite short. The hind legs are highly developed and have five toes. The space between them is covered with a leathery membrane; the fingers of the limbs do not have claws.

The only excretory opening located in the back of the body is the cloacal opening. The frog's body is covered with bare skin, thickly lubricated with mucus, which is secreted by special subcutaneous glands.

The frog's size ranges from 8 mm to 32 cm, and the coloring can be either single-color (brown, yellow, green) or variegated.

Types of frogs

The entire diversity of these amphibians is represented by subfamilies:

• toad frogs;
• shield-toed frogs;
• African wood frogs;
• real frogs;
• dwarf frogs;
• disc-toed frogs.

In total, there are more than 500 species of frogs in the world. In the territory Russian Federation the most common are pond and grass frogs. The world's largest frog reaches a length of 32 cm - this is the Goliath frog. The smallest frog in the world is the leaf frog, measuring 2 cm. In general, all types of frogs amaze with their diversity in size and color.

Where does the frog live?

The distribution area of ​​frogs is huge. Due to the fact that representatives of this species are cold-blooded, it does not include areas with a critical climate. You won't see a frog in sandy deserts Africa, on the ice fields of Taimyr, Greenland and Antarctica. Some New Zealand islands were once not part of the frog's native areas, but now have distinct populations of the animals. The distribution of some frog species may be limited as natural causes(mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, etc.) and man-made (highways, canals). In tropical conditions, the diversity of species is much greater than in areas with temperate or cold climates. There are certain species of frogs that are quite capable of living in salt water or even in the Arctic Circle.

The frog is an amazing creature. If we look at it from one side, we will only notice that it is a disgusting creature with wet and cold skin. In addition, she also has an unattractive, big-eyed muzzle and webbed paws. But on the other hand, if you take a closer look at it and do not take into account existing prejudices, in terms of the sophistication of its outfits and the grace of its movements, the frog is not inferior even to the princess herself. They may even be considered among the most attractive creatures on the planet. Frogs have mastered our planet well and widely. You can meet them not only in ponds or swamps, as we are all used to, but even in the depths of deserts. But, of course, for this there must be a small source of water in the desert. They live in major cities and in areas where no one has set foot.

• Frogs are amphibians that inhabit almost all parts of the world. They live everywhere - in ponds or swamps, on the ground, even at a depth of several meters in a hard layer of clay, on trees.
• This circumstance could not but affect the species diversity of frogs.
• These amazing amphibians are divided into three species: frogs, toads and tree frogs.
• Frogs have smooth or slightly lumpy skin, teeth located on the upper jaw and swim membranes on the hind legs.
• Most major representative frog world - goliath frog (Conraua goliath). This giant frog can weigh more than three kilograms, its length is about 90 cm. The strong legs of the goliath frog allow it to make jumps three meters long.
• The smallest frogs found in Cuba have a body length of 8.5 mm to 12 mm.
• Toads, unlike frogs, do not have teeth. The skin of toads is thoroughly covered with tubercles, it is darker and drier than the skin of frogs. Behind the eyes they have well-developed parotid glands. In general, representatives of the toad family prefer to live on land, going to water only during the breeding season.
• The world's largest toad is the aga toad, its weight can reach more than two kilograms. In addition, the aga toad is one of the most poisonous among toads and frogs. The world's smallest toad is only 2.4 cm long.
• Tree frogs are the smallest family among the three named. Tree frogs differ from other species by having widened discs on their toes that help them climb upward. Some species of tree frogs can “fly”; in fact, this is not flight in the full sense of the word, but planning. This ability allows tree frogs to escape from enemies; they can “fly away” to a distance of up to 12 meters.
• Frogs' vision is designed in such a way that they can look forward, sideways and up at the same time. They never close their eyes for long, even while sleeping.
• The wet skin of frogs has bactericidal properties. Our ancestors, knowing this, threw them into milk so that it would not turn sour.
• However, not all types of frogs are harmless. For example, cocoi frogs that live in the jungle South America and Colombia, were recognized as the most poisonous land animals on our planet. The poison of this frog is thousands of times stronger than potassium cyanide and 35 times stronger than poison Central Asian cobra.
• In Japan, frogs are considered a symbol of good luck.
• IN Ancient Egypt, frogs were a symbol of resurrection and were even mummified along with the dead. This is probably due to the fact that many species of frogs that live in temperate and cold latitudes go into hibernation every year, freezing, and are resurrected again in the spring. The fact is that frogs produce a non-freezing molecule - glucose. The liquid in the tissues becomes syrupy from frost, without forming ice crystals, which allows amphibians to survive.

Now you know more :)