Frogs and Toads

Frogs and Toads. Written by Kira Fried.

青蛙和蟾蜍。 作者：基拉·弗里德。

I found a frog. Have you ever seen an unusual animal in nature? Did you want to learn more about it? Last week I saw a really neat frog, and that was the start of a wonderful adventure.

我发现了一只青蛙。 你有没有在大自然里见过不常见的动物呀？ 你是不是想多了解它呢？ 上周我见到了一只特别有意思的青蛙， 从那之后我就开启了一场超棒的探险。

I looked for the frog in a book called A Field Guide. I started looking through the pictures in the book. I was amazed to see all the different kinds of frogs and toads. It turns out I saw a wood frog.

我在一本叫《野外指南》的书里查找这只青蛙的相关信息。 我开始翻看书里的图片。 看到形形色色的青蛙和蟾蜍，我惊讶极了。 原来我见到的是一只林蛙呀。

I wanted to know more, so I went to the Internet. Did you know that frogs and toads are relatives of newts and salamanders? They're all amphibians, which means they live part of their life in water and part on land. Amphibians are cold -blooded animals. They don't make their own body heat. They get warmth from the heat of the sun.

我还想了解更多知识，所以就去网上查资料啦。 你知道吗？青蛙和蟾蜍是蝾螈和火蜥蜴的近亲哦。 它们都是两栖动物，也就是说它们一生一部分时间生活在水里，一部分时间生活在陆地上。 两栖动物是冷血动物。 它们的身体无法自己产生热量。 它们靠太阳的热量来获取温暖。

Life cycle. I also learned that most frogs and toads lay jelly -covered eggs in water. The babies that hatch are called tadpoles and look like little fish. Tadpoles breathe with gills, just like fish, and they live in water. But it's amazing what happens as they grow.

生命周期。 我还了解到，大多数青蛙和蟾蜍会在水里产下裹着胶状物质的卵。 孵出来的宝宝叫蝌蚪，看起来就像小鱼一样。 蝌蚪用鳃呼吸，和鱼一样生活在水里。 不过在它们长大的过程中发生的变化可太奇妙了。

Their gills disappear and they grow lungs so they can breathe air like other land animals. They grow legs and then arms. Later their tail shrinks. By the time their tail is gone they move onto land. I saw some very cool photos of the life cycle of frogs and toads.

它们的鳃会消失，然后长出肺，这样就能像其他陆生动物一样呼吸空气啦。 它们先长出腿，再长出胳膊。 之后尾巴会慢慢缩小。 等到尾巴完全消失的时候，它们就可以搬到陆地上生活啦。 我看到了好多超酷的青蛙和蟾蜍生命周期的照片哦。