The teacher used to teach us that
amphibians can be divided into two types. One has tail in all life
circle. The other has tail before it becomes adult but the tail is
reabsorbed by the body as an adult body, such as frogs and toads which
are so-called anurans. We can tell the difference between frogs and
toads by the skin. Frogs have smooth or slimy skin. (generally, frogs
tend to like moister environments. ) Toads have warty and dry skin.
This is why they usually prefer dryer climates. Let's start to know
some frogs in the wetlands!
【The
types and differences of amphibians】- by Yi-Kai, Chi-Lin and Yung -
Yuang
In the wetlands, we've found
Black-spectacled Toad,
which has a nickname of "four black" because it has black lips, black
nails, black spots on the back and wear black glasses. We also
enjoyed the croaking of nearly 10
Black-spectacled Toad
which were croaking together. Another species we've found is
Bankoro Toad,
which is an endangered species and really different from
Black-spectacled Toad.
Black-spectacled Toad
lay eggs in summer, but
Bankoro Toad
lay eggs in winter. All toad species have rough skins and poison warts
on the skin.
A frog is a common
amphibian, which likes to stay in the pond. In winter, they like to
stay in the mud sleeping. In summer, they tend to wait for their food
in the night time. As long as they find the food, they will stick the
food with tongues rapidly.
W used to see green frogs that are usually tree
frogs in school. The one we saw is
Chinese Tree Toad
which has special sound.
Listen to the
Chinese Tree Toadcroaking
【Chinese
Bullfrog
Rana tigrina rugulosa】by Ching-Jia, Zih-Wen, and Chia-Yu
We're afraid
of touching frogs, so we look up some information as follows.
Appearance:
Large in size, featured with acute and round head, long-bar collop and
humpy on the
back, and evidnet timbale. The color of the body changes to dark green
or olive drab
with the environment. Flat abdomen with black stripes, and on the side
of the body
there are some dark and irregular stripes. Their forelegs are short
and fat with wide
stripes.
Distributions:
Rana rugulosa is distributed in farmlands and
plains. As their habitats are gradually
destroyed, the amount of the Chinese bullfrogs is reducing. It is an
endangered species.
Breeding:
Breeding season is in spring and summer.
Behaviours:
Males usually call along the edges of marshes, rice field, and pools.
They are alert and
not easy to approach. When threatened, they leap into water or hide
beneath
vegetation. Rana rugulosa is highly carnivorous, eating anything they
can catch
including other frogs. Energetic at night, but hide in holes during
daytime.They are
protected species for many individuals are caught for commercial
purposes.
eggs: The
diameter of the egg is about 1.8 mm , and usually floats single on the
surface of water.
Tadpoles:
The size of tadpoles are large to 5 cm in length. The length of tail
is twice aslong as the
body.
There are some black spots on their backs.
【The
sound of frogs and toads】--Zheng-Hui
and Yu-Kai
I used to think that toads
cannot croak and that the croaking sound was from
Latouche’s Frogs and
Rice Field Frogs.
But since that observation beside the wetlands, I suddenly
understood that the croaking sound I usually heard at night was
from toads,but
not frogs. It was really impressive. If you would
like to hear their sound, please click the button at right side.
And don't forget to turn on your speakers.
Listen to the
Black-spectacled Toad croaking
Frogs and Toads don't keep croaking every
day but just during the breeding season. Besides, each species
croaks in different accent. So, two different frog species can't
communicate each other! In the dark, two frogs of the same kind
can communicate each other. They squeeze their lungs with their
nostrils and mouth shut. Air flows over their vocal chords and
into their vocal sacs. Vocal sacs are located on their throat,
and you can see it blow up like a balloon. Some frogs can make
noises without vocal sacs. Let's listen to the calling of
Rana guentheri. It sounds like an animal in your home, did
you get it?
Listen to the
Guenther’s Amoy Frog
croaking
Each different
croaking sound
has different meanings. For example, the territory croaking is to
warn other frogs not to step into their lands; and both male and
female frogs make "squeak, squeak, squeak" sound when they are
attacked. Male frogs croak
louder when they meet female
frogs in the mating season. Would you like to listen to the
lovely croaking of Rana limmocharis? Please click the
button at right side.
Listen to the
Rice Field Frog croaking
< Frog eggs > by
Yi-Chen and Mei-Chin
Jelly-like masses of eggs are called
frog's
spawn. Here's how frog spawn happens: A female frog lays eggs under
water, usually in the spring. She may lay as many as 20,000 eggs. The
male frog climbs on her back and fertilizes the eggs as they are laid.
The female covers the eggs with a jelly-like substance that causes the
eggs to float to the water's surface.
As a matter of fact, there are many different patterns of their eggs
such as foam-like eggs. We look forward to see those eggs of other
frogs species this summer.
Compared
to frogs, toads' eggs are in long chain shape. The toads in the left
picture were mating and laying eggs. We saw lots of chain eggs in the
water. That's was really amazing. There are more
and more frogs in the campus so that it's hard to introduce them all
in detail. Frogs' hearing is really good, so it's necessary to keep quietand need a little
bit of luck to meet them.
