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Feature Article Frogs
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Frogs are amphibiams
(capable of living both on land and in water) They are considered the equivalent of the canary in the coal mine for environmental
damage. The canary was used for detecting toxic or explosive gases in coal-mines. More sensitive to such gases than
humans, they would collapse
long before the miners were affected, and a collapsed canary was therefore a signal to the
miners to get out immediately,
Humans breathe through lungs, which are inside our bodies and thus protected
from direct contact with air and water. Amphibians, however, breathe partially (and in some species, completely), through
their skin, which is constantly exposed
to the environment. Their bodies are much more vulnerable and sensitive to factors
such as disease, pollution, toxic chemicals, radiation, and habitat destruction. The worldwide occurrences of amphibian decline
and deformities could be an early warning to us of serious ecosystem imbalances.
If you never see or hear a frog for the rest of your life, This should be a cause of concern
to you.
Frogs are a very diverse life form. Those that lay eggs in water hatch 6 - 21 days later.
After 6 to 9 weeks, tiny legs start to sprout By 12 weeks, the tadpole has a tail stub. Between 12 - 16 weeks depending on
water and food supply, the
frog completes the full cycle.
Some frogs that live in higher altitudes or in colder places might take a whole winter to go through the
tadpole stage.
Waiting for the rain.
The Coast foam-nest treefrog, actually mates in tree branches
overhanging ponds and streams. Fertisilzed eggs are contained in large cocoon-like foamy masses. The foam sometimes
cakes dry in the sun, protecting the inside moisture. When the rain comes along, after developement of 7 to 9 days, the foam
drips down, dropping tiny tadpoles into the river or pond below.
Large and small
The Goliath Frog of west Africa is the world’s largest. It can
grow to 15 inches and weigh up to 7 pounds—about the size of a newborn human.The smallest is probably
a Cuban frog, about the size of your finger nail.
No Singing the babies are growing.
Darwin's frog found in South America has odd brooding
habits.The female lays about 30 eggs and then the male guards them for about 2 weeks. Then he picks up all the survivors
and carries them around in his vocal pouch. The tadpoles
develope in the baggy chin skin, feeding off their
egg yolk. When they are tiny froglets (about half an inch) they hop out and swim away! Weird! Only to us. Normal for the frog.
The Surinam toad, an aquatic South American toad is about 20 cm (8 inches) long. It has
small eyes, a flat, squarish body, and a flat head with loose flaps of skin on the face. As
the eggs are released into the water, the male fertalizes
them and presses them to the back of the female. During
the next several hours, the skin grows around the eggs to enclose them in a cyst with a horny lid. About 80 days later,
the eggs develop, and the young emerge from the back of this toad
as a bunch of tiny froglets! or should that be
toadlets?
Extinct in our time
The Australian Gastric Brooding Frog incubates its' young
inside it's body. Then the frogs come hopping out of the mouth when they develop past the tadpole stage. Scientists were most
intrigued by how this species manages to "Turn off" production of hydrochloric acid (the digestive juices) when brooding the
froglets. Sadly, not long after their discovery they dissapeared and are now believed to be extinct. This is very distrubing
information and I do hope it turns out to be wrong.
Give up Ice Cream try a frog.
The North American wood frog belongs to a small group
of animals that are freeze tolerant. As the temperature drops below freezing each winter, the wood frog drifts into a deep
hibernation, its breathing and heartbeat grind to a halt, and as much as 65% of the water in its body gradually crystallizes
into ice. The frog spends two or three months of each winter frozen, with its body temperature ranging between -1°C and -6°C.
When spring finally arrives, the ice melts, heartbeat and breathing return, and the frog continues on its happy-go-lucky way.
I think that might be a good way to deal with winter.
7 years waiting for rain.
Frogs have
evolved to live in an astounding variety of climates. They can be found just about anywhere there's fresh water, from the
desert to the Arctic, on all continents except Antarctica. Though they thrive in warm, moist tropical climates, frogs also
live in deserts and high on 15,000 foot mountain slopes. The
Australian water-holding frog is a desert dweller that can
wait up to seven years for rain. It burrows underground and surrounds itself in a transparent cocoon made of its own shed
skin.
Frogs are truly amazing and diverse creatures. Celebrate and smile when you hear them on a warm
summer night.
3) Sites for more information
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4) Did You Know Quick Fact / Question
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A frog's tongue is attached in the front instead of the back of the mouth, just the opposite of most tongues.
Many frogs can leap 20 times their body length on a level surface.
If we had the same jumping ability
we could jump over 100 feet.
Most frogs absorb all of their water through their skin. Many have a special “drink” patch on
the belly.
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