Frogs aren't meant to be able to store a mental map in their brains. 20 years ago, Lainy Day from the University of Mississippi, USA, tested the place memory of amphibians and lizards, but none appeared capable of forming ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 11, 2019
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2
Frogs need elephants. That's what a new WCS-led study says that looked at the role of water-filled elephant tracks in providing predator-free breeding grounds and pathways connecting frog populations.
Plants & Animals
Jun 04, 2019
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190
New Guinea is one of the only places in the world where frogs are safe from the species-destroying chytrid fungus. An international team of scientists has published a new paper that shows how to keep it that way, but they ...
Ecology
Jun 03, 2019
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94
In a small farmhouse surrounded by cloud forest, Iván Lozano inspects dozens of glass containers that hold some of the world's most coveted frogs.
Ecology
May 24, 2019
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9
Red-legged frogs made famous by Mark Twain are thriving in Yosemite Valley after a decades-long absence.
Ecology
May 06, 2019
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12
New Oregon State University research shows that juvenile northern red-legged frogs that have experienced climate-related stress as tadpoles are less likely to move on land, putting their survival at risk.
Ecology
May 02, 2019
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5
Known to science since 1857, a common species of true frog (a "true frog" is one assigned to the family Ranidae), found from north-eastern Honduras, through Nicaragua and Costa Rica to central Panama, turns out to have been ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 11, 2019
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7
Research scientists led by the University of Kent have uncovered hidden diversity within a type of frog found only in the Seychelles, showing that those on each island have their own distinct lineage.
Plants & Animals
Apr 11, 2019
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12
The Indian bullfrog, which is native to the Indian sub-continent, has recently invaded the Andaman archipelago. This group of islands lies about 1200 km east of the Indian mainland. The bullfrog was probably introduced to ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 11, 2019
0
7
The evolution of aquatic creatures to start living on land made them into more attentive parents, says new research on frogs led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath.
Plants & Animals
Apr 10, 2019
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111
Archaeobatrachia Mesobatrachia Neobatrachia - List of Anuran families
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura (meaning "tail-less", from Greek an-, without + oura, tail), formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin saltare, to jump). The name frog derives from Old English frogga, (compare Old Norse frauki, German Frosch, older Dutch spelling kikvorsch), cognate with Sanskrit plava (frog), probably deriving from Proto-Indo-European praw = "to jump".
Most frogs are characterized by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes and the absence of a tail. Most frogs have a semi-aquatic lifestyle, but move easily on land by jumping or climbing. They typically lay their eggs in puddles, ponds or lakes, and their larvae, called tadpoles, have gills and develop in water. Adult frogs follow a carnivorous diet, mostly of arthropods, annelids and gastropods. Frogs are most noticeable by their call, which can be widely heard during the night or day, mainly in their mating season.
The distribution of frogs ranges from tropic to subarctic regions, but most species are found in tropical rainforests. Consisting of more than 5,000 species described, they are among the most diverse groups of vertebrates. However, populations of certain frog species are declining significantly.
A distinction is often made between frogs and toads on the basis of their appearance, caused by the convergent adaptation among so-called toads to dry environments; however, this distinction has no taxonomic basis. The only family exclusively given the common name "toad" is Bufonidae, but many species from other families are also called "toads," and the species within the toad genus Atelopus are referred to as "harlequin frogs".
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
