Frogs and Toads

Frogs and Toads

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.