Basic Frog Facts Adaptations Frogs are part of

Basic Frog Facts

Adaptations • Frogs are part of the amphibian order, Anura. • Frogs have four legs, no neck, and no tails as adults. • Frogs have loose, mucous lined skin to help them escape from predators. • Frogs live "dual lives"--part in the water, part on land. • Frogs breathe through gills only as tadpoles. • Frogs breathe though underdeveloped lungs as adults.

Adaptations • Adult frogs also breathe through their skin, called "cutaneous respiration, " which limits body size. • The mucous lining helps keep frogs hydrated, and is required for cutaneous respiration. • The backs of frogs are dark, while their undersides are light, in order to protect them through camouflage on land water, respectively.

Adaptations • Frogs live on land as adults, but must live near a major water source to help keep their skin moist, for reproduction, and for certain stages of life. • Frog brains are smaller and less developed than other vertebrates. • Strong muscles and special fused bones help frogs be powerful swimmers and jumpers

Fish vs. Frogs • Fish have scales; frog skin is smooth & mucousy. • Fish have a single loop circulatory system with a two chambered heart • frogs have a double loop circulatory system with a three chambered heart. • In fish, deoxygenated and oxygenated blood is completely mixed, while in frogs it is only partially mixed. • Both are cold blooded (ectothermic). • Fish breathe through gills as adults, frogs do not. • Fish can only swim, and require constant water habitats.

Snakes vs. Frogs • Snakes don’t have limbs; frogs have 4 legs. • Frog eggs are shell-less & fertilized externally in water. • Snake eggs have leathery shells, are laid on land, and are fertilized internally. • Snake hearts have a partially divided ventricle, therefore have less mixing of blood than frogs. • Snakes have scales; frog skin is smooth. • Both swallow their prey whole.

Mammals/Birds vs. Frogs • Frogs have larger olfactory lobes than birds. • The cerebrum of frogs is less developed than that in mammals. • Mammals have hearts with four chambers (prevents oxygenated and deoxygenate blood from mixing), • frogs only have three chambers (allows some mixing of blood).