Frog Blog: Funky Frogs!

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FROGS. The absolute peak of superiority. The most wonderful creatures in existence. The most goofy little guys who can look like they don’t have a singular braincell behind those eyes, but at the same time they look like they’re reading your very soul and they know your darkest secrets. They are SO CUTE. The way they hop around, the way they’re shaped, the way they’re EVERYTHING. They are insanely cool and adorable and I LOVE THEM. I’ve decided to share some cool frog species! Before we get into that, though, here’s something to note:  

Do NOT pick up frogs with bare hands. I know how tempting it is, but don’t! See, frogs have semi-permeable skin, which means they absorb things, like oxygen, through their skin. When you pick up a frog, the oils on your hands are absorbed. These oils can harm a frog, so if you really need to hold a frog, make sure you wear gloves! (Source) Make sure to tell other people as well; unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know this information. Now, let us expand our frog knowledge horizon! Our first little meepy to look at is… drumroll please… 

 The Titicaca Water Frog! (Telmatobius culeus) 

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Titicaca frogs, like all frogs, are amazing. They are only native to Lake Titicaca, and unfortunately, they are critically endangered. Their faces look like the ‘:3’ emoticon, they’re one of the largest water frogs alive, and they live their entire lives underwater! Yes, they do have lungs, but said lungs are much smaller than you would expect. Titicaca water frogs instead respire through their baggy, folded skin! These frogs will even do ‘push-ups’ underwater to increase the water flowing over their skin, allowing it to absorb more oxygen. What amazing little creatures! 

The Wood Frog! (Lithobates sylvaticus) 

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Oh, glorious wood frogs. Wood frogs are the only frogs that live north of the arctic circle, which basically means they live in very cold temperatures! As such, they’ve developed an amazing way to combat the cold- wood frogs freeze themselves during hibernation. You heard that right. 35% to 45% of a wood frog’s body might turn to ice when they freeze. The outsides of cells and organs freeze over, ice forms between skin and muscles, and the frog’s breathing, heartbeat, and muscle movement all cease. Once the ice thaws, though, wood frogs hop right back up on their feet, alive! This is possible because the insides of their cells and organs are protected by large amounts of glucose, making it so only the outsides of cells and organs freeze! How absolutely incredible is that?  

  

 

The Hairy Frog! (Trichobatrachus robustus) 

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Hairy frogs are also known as wolverine frogs and horror frogs! Honestly, the last two names are more fitting, as the hairy frog doesn’t actually have hair. The ‘hair’ seen in the picture above are actually filaments of skin that help these frogs breathe more, and they’re only present in males during breeding season! But is a name like ‘horror frog’ really more accurate? To me, yes, and I say that positively. These guys are gruesome in an awesome way- they push their hooked bones out through their skin to make claws! These claws aren’t true claws as they’re made of bone, but that just makes it even cooler.

 

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 That is the end of this round of frogs! I hope you enjoyed and learned something new. There’s tons of cool frog species out there, so there very well might be another frog blog in the future! Remember to be nice to frogs, and goodbye!