Portal:Frogs

The Frogs Portal

Various types of frog

Afrog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek ἀνούρα, literally 'without tail'). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" Triadobatrachus is known from the Early TriassicofMadagascar, but molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropicstosubarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history.

An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail (the tail of tailed frogs is an extension of the male cloaca). Frogs have glandular skin, with secretions ranging from distasteful to toxic. Their skin varies in colour from well-camouflaged dappled brown, grey and green to vivid patterns of bright red or yellow and black to show toxicity and ward off predators. Adult frogs live in fresh water and on dry land; some species are adapted for living underground or in trees.

Frogs typically lay their eggs in the water. The eggs hatch into aquatic larvae called tadpoles that have tails and internal gills. They have highly specialized rasping mouth parts suitable for herbivorous, omnivorousorplanktivorous diets. The life cycle is completed when they metamorphose into adults. A few species deposit eggs on land or bypass the tadpole stage. Adult frogs generally have a carnivorous diet consisting of small invertebrates, but omnivorous species exist and a few feed on plant matter. Frog skin has a rich microbiome which is important to their health. Frogs are extremely efficient at converting what they eat into body mass. They are an important food source for predators and part of the food web dynamics of many of the world's ecosystems. The skin is semi-permeable, making them susceptible to dehydration, so they either live in moist places or have special adaptations to deal with dry habitats. Frogs produce a wide range of vocalizations, particularly in their breeding season, and exhibit many different kinds of complex behaviors to attract mates, to fend off predators and to generally survive. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

The Bombay night frog (Nyctibatrachus humayuni), also known as Abdulali's wrinkled frog, Abdulali's night frogorHumayun's wrinkled frog, is a speciesoffrog in the family Nyctibatrachidae. It is endemic to the Western GhatsofMaharashtra state, India. The species is found near torrential hill streams in tropical moist evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, a habitat that is threatened by habitat loss and pollution. Its name honours Humayun Abdulali, an Indian biologist. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Australian green tree frog Green and golden bell frog Boiling frog Cane toad Common toad Ecnomiohyla rabborum American bullfrog Poison dart frog Moor frog Cuban tree frog Gastric-brooding frog Glass frog Desert froglet African clawed frog Common frog Frog legs Baw Baw frog True frog Frog hearing and communication Frogs in culture Kupamanduka Calyptocephalella African bullfrog Golden poison frog Goliath frog Squirrel tree frog Strawberry poison-dart frog Wood frog Purple frog Panamanian golden frog Albanian water frog Bale Mountains tree frog Bilbo's rain frog Banded bullfrog Foothill yellow-legged frog Cope's gray treefrog Boreal chorus frog Common tree frog Hairy frog Hochstetter's frog Meowing night frog Hula painted frog Hybridogenesis in water frogs Northern leopard frog Oregon spotted frog Northern red-legged frog Puerto Rican rock frog Southern cricket frog Quacking frog Western spotted frog Williamson's marsupial frog Wallace's flying frog Beelzebufo Marsh frog Archey's frog Leptodactylus fallax

Selected image

More pictures...

Need help?

Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.

• 
  Image 1Ascaphus montanus tadpole (supine position), showing the large oral sucker (from Tailed frog)
• 
  Image 2Early Dynastic (c. 3000 BC) frog statuette) (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 3Entre ciel et terre, by Gustave Doré, 1862 (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 4American green tree frog, Dryophytes cinereusorHyla cinerea, Hylidae, central and southeastern United States (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 5American toad (Anaxyrus americanus) (from True toad)
• 
  Image 6Dead Frog with FliesbyAmbrosius Bosschaert II, c. 1630 (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 7Red-eyed treefrog, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 8Hermenegildo Bustos, Still life with fruit, 1874 (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 9Eungella torrent frog
  Taudactylus eungellensis
  Myobatrachidae
  Australia (from Torrent frog)
• 
  Image 10Big-eyed tree frog, Leptopelis vermiculatus, Hyperoliidae, Tanzania (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 11White-lipped bright-eyed frog, Boophis albilabris, Mantellidae, Madagascar (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 12Moche frog, 200 AD (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 13"My Old Friend Dr. Frog". Promotional postcard for "Frog In Your Throat" Company throat medicine (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 14Common tree frog, Polypedates leucomystax, Rhacophoridae, southern to eastern Asia (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 15Torrent treefrog
  Litoria nannotis
  Hylidae
  Australia (from Torrent frog)
• 
  Image 16Powdered glass frog, Cochranella pulverata, Centrolenidae, Honduras to Ecuador (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 17Gray tree frog, Hyla versicolor, Hylidae, eastern North America (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 18Vietnamese folk painting『Nhân nghĩa』(from Toad)
• 
  Image 19Freddo Frog advertisement, 1930 (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 20Frog and Mouse by Getsuju, a Japanese artist of the Edo period (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 21European treefrog (Hyla arborea) (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 22Malabar tree toad, Pedostibes tuberculosus, Hyperoliidae, India (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 23Roman lamp mount shaped like a frog. (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 24A frog being eaten by King Stork, an illustration by Milo Winter in a 1919 Aesop anthology (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 25Black torrent frog
  Micrixalus saxicola
  Ranidae
  India (from Torrent frog)
• 
  Image 26Gladiator treefrog (Hypsiboas rosenbergi), Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (from Tree frog)
• 
  Image 27Detail of Josiah Wedgwood's Frog Service, 1773–4, made for Catherine the Great of Russia (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 28Vietnamese folk painting『Lão oa giảng độc』(from Toad)
• 
  Image 29Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee 2016 (from Frog jumping contest)
• 
  Image 30Frog pictured in the coat of arms of Baloži (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 31Crapaud et Grenouille ("Frog and Toad") by Jean Carriès, between 1889 and 1894 (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 32Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) (from Flying frog)
• 
  Image 33Old Dutch tile from Friesland (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 34Wrestling frogs from Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, cartoon, Japan, 12th century (from Frogs in culture)
• 
  Image 35Common toad, female and male on her back. (from True toad)

Did you know?

• ... that the eggs of the horned marsupial frog are the largest to be laid by any known amphibian?

Quality Content

Select [►] to view subcategories

Amphibians	Paleontology
Reptiles

Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Stubs : Arthroleptidae stubs • Bufonidae stubs • Craugastoridae stubs • Glass frog stubs • Hemiphractidae stubs • Hyperoliidae stubs • Leptodactylidae stubs • Mantellidae stubs • Megophryidae stubs • Microhylidae stubs • Myobatrachidae stubs • Petropedetidae stubs • Poison dart frog stubs • Rhacophoridae stubs • True frog stubs

Associated Wikimedia

Commons
Free media repository

Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals

Wikidata
Free knowledge base

Wikinews
Free-content news

Wikiquote
Collection of quotations

Wikisource
Free-content library

Wikispecies
Directory of species

Wikiversity
Free learning tools

Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

List of all portals

The arts portal

Biography portal

Current events portal

Geography portal

History portal

Mathematics portal

Science portal

Society portal

Technology portal

Random portal

WikiProject Portals