Frog: 14 Fun Facts

A variety of frogs from a 1892 print.

       A frog a small, tailless animal, belonging to the same class as toads, newts and salamanders. 

14 Fun Facts About Frogs:

1. These creatures, the amphibians (which see), start life as water animals, and in a mature state can live both on land and in water. 
2. Frogs differ from toads in having teeth and in possessing a less bulky body than their near kin (see Toad).
3. Frogs are common in all parts of the world except Australia and South America.  
4. There are many species, and they inhabit widely different regions, but usually prefer swampy places and the shores of lakes and streams. 
5. The young frog, which is known as the tadpole, bears no resemblance to the parent. 
6. It has neither mouth nor limbs, but has branching gills and a long tail, with which it swims about. 
7. Its body looks like a roundish lump of dark jelly. 
8. But soon the mouth develops, the gills disappear and. as the days go on, the hind legs appear. 
9. The fore legs follow, the tail is gradually absorbed and thus the animal changes into the frog. 
10. It is an interesting transformation which any person may observe, if he will keep a few of the tadpoles where he can see them daily.
11. The mature frogs breathe by lungs and cannot live in water without coming to the surface for air.
12. They swim with great rapidity and move by long leaps, being able to jump many times their own length. 
13. In the tadpole stage, frogs live chiefly on vegetable matter, but the mature frog lives on insects, slugs, snails and the like. 
14. The flesh, especially that of the hind legs of certain species, is considered very choice food, and in France, particularly, frogs are bred for the market in large numbers.

More About Frogs From The Web:

• Frog Eggs and Tadpoles
• 3 Reasons Why Frogs Are So Important to the Ecosystem

sub-phyla of the Chordata: animals with a notechord.