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Although it said that men and women are, not all frogs are created equal. The biggest frogs in the world, the Conraua of South Africa, weigh in at about six pounds, with bodies that are a foot long. On the other webbed hand, the smallest frogs are about 3/8 of an inch long, and they are almost weightless. There are several tiny species, including the Gold Frog from Brazil and the Eleutherodactylus Iberia of Cuba, which has been so recently discovered that it does not yet have a common name.
All
frogs big or small, share one of four types of pupils common to frogs: round, much like humans; vertical, similar to a cat and good for night vision or sudden changes in light levels; horizontal-shaped, which function best in daytime; and heart-shaped, which have no known benefits.
Some of their reproductive habits are rather dramatic as well. The Surinam toad mates in the water, and when the female releases her eggs, the male fertilizes them and then places them on her back, where a skin will grow over the clutch, enclosing them for 80 days until they hatch. The Gastric Brooding frog incubates its young in its stomach, until they grow past the tadpole stage. Hormones secreted by the young suppress the gastric acids. Sadly, these frogs, which only appeared in Australia in the 1970s and 80s, are thought to be extinct. None have been seen anywhere in almost twenty years.
Do YOU have any froggy facts to share?
Plunk your magic clanger, then!
