Adaptations to the habitat of the pond frog. Frog habitat. Range, habitats
Frogs (Rana) is a common and widespread name that unites a whole group of animals that belong to the order Tailless amphibians. In a broad sense, this term is applicable to any representatives belonging to the Tailless order, and in narrow sense the name applies only to the True Frog family.
Description of frogs
Absolutely any representatives of frogs are distinguished by the absence of a pronounced neck, and the head of such amphibious animals seems to grow together with a short and fairly wide body. The complete absence of a tail in frogs is reflected directly in the name of the order, which unites all amphibians. It should be noted that frogs have simply unique vision, therefore they do not close their eyes during sleep, and are also able to look forward, up and sideways at the same time.
Appearance
The frog has a large and flat head, on the side of which are bulging eyes.. Along with other terrestrial vertebrates, frogs have upper and lower eyelids. Under the lower eyelid of an amphibian, a nictitating membrane is found, which is called the "third eyelid". Behind the eyes of an amphibian is a special area covered with a thin skin called the tympanic membrane. Two nostrils with special valves are located above a huge mouth with small teeth.
The front paws of the frog are characterized by the presence of four rather short fingers. The hind legs of the animal are strong and well developed, equipped with five fingers, the space between which is covered with a specially leathery membrane. There are no claws on the fingers of the animal. The only excretory part is located in the posterior region of the body of the frog and is represented by the so-called cloacal opening. The frog's body is covered with bare skin, rather densely smeared with a special mucus, which is abundantly secreted by the special numerous subcutaneous glands of the animal.
It is interesting! The size of frogs depends on the species, so European frogs most often do not exceed one decimeter, and African goliath frogs are a kind of champion in terms of size, therefore, with a half-meter size, they have a weight of several kilograms.
The size of an adult frog varies markedly depending on the species, but most often varies between 0.8-32 cm. The color of the skin is also very diverse and can be represented by brownish, yellow, in green or unusual variegated coloration. Many members of the family prefer to disguise themselves as herbaceous vegetation, foliage or branches, therefore they have skin of a characteristic green, gray and grayish-green color.
The combat coloration, as a rule, indicates the poisonousness of the frog, which is explained by the presence of special glands on the skin that produce substances that are toxic and harmful to human or animal health. Some frogs easily mimic, imitating dangerous amphibians to escape enemies.
Character and lifestyle
Frogs are able to move perfectly on land, as well as simply make huge jumps, climb onto the crowns of tall trees and dig underground burrows. Some species are characterized by the ability not only to swim perfectly, but also to run, walk, quickly climb trees and even easily plan from a height.
To very interesting features frogs include the absorption of oxygen through the skin. This process is quite successfully carried out on land or in water, due to which the animal belongs to the category of amphibians. Nevertheless, European grass frogs, very widely known in our country, approach water bodies only during the period of active reproduction.
It is interesting! activity scores different types and subspecies is very different, so some of these amphibians prefer to hunt exclusively at night, but there are bright representatives who remain tireless all twenty-four hours a day.
An interesting fact is that frogs need lungs in order to make rather loud and peculiar sounds called croaking. Sound bubbles and resonators help the amphibian to produce the widest range of sounds, which is most often used to attract the opposite sex during the breeding season.
Periodically, adult frogs shed their skin, which is not an organ necessary for the life of an amphibious animal, after which they eat it in anticipation of the growth of new skin. By way of life, all real frogs are sedentary loners, prone to short-term migration over short distances only during the breeding season. Species that live in temperate conditions hibernate with the onset of winter.
How long do frogs live
Unique animals that are very prominent representatives from the order Tailless amphibians, have different life spans. Its definition in vivo is carried out by the method of skeletochronology, which allows you to correctly assess the individual growth rate and the onset of puberty.
It is interesting! According to scientists, a significant part of frog species live in nature for no more than ten years, but numerous observations have shown that individual species and subspecies have a life cycle of thirty years.
sexual dimorphism
Permanent and seasonal sexual dimorphism is a trait shared by many amphibians, including some species of frogs. For some poison dart frogs, an increase in the fingertips of males is characteristic, which is used by amphibians when tapping on the ground and contributes to the active attraction of females. Males of some species are distinguished by greatly enlarged eardrums. Seasonal dimorphism is caused by the presence of so-called gonadotropic hormones in the animal's body.
It is interesting! There are species, during visual inspection of which it is impossible to determine the gender in accordance with only one trait, therefore, it is required to compare several morphological characteristics at once.
One of the brightest and most pronounced sexual characteristics, which are characteristic of male frogs, is represented by the formation of mating pads as a response to changes in the hormonal background of the testes.
In a frog, such pads are formed on the lower part of the forelimbs, on the fingers and near the mouth, due to which all sexually mature males remain with the female in a paired state even when the water is strong or attacked by other animals.
frog species
To date, there are more than 550 species of amphibious animals called frogs.. The family Real frogs is represented by several subfamilies at once: African forest, discoped and toad-like, dwarf and real, as well as shield-toed frogs.
Many species are incredibly popular with connoisseurs of indoor amphibians and are kept as exotic pets. Most interesting views presented:
- Dominican tree frog;
- Australian tree frog;
- some poison dart frogs or;
- smooth clawed frog or aibolite frog;
- red-eyed tree frog;
- lake frog;
- moor frog;
- garlic cloves.
To the most unusual species frogs currently include transparent or glass frog, poisonous coca frog, hairy and flying frogs, bull frogs, as well as clown frogs and sharp-nosed tree frogs.
It is interesting! Species can have significant differences in structure. For example, copepod frogs have a flattened, as if crushed body, and for piglet frogs, on the contrary, a swollen body is characteristic.
Range, habitats
Vertebrate animals have become widespread in almost all countries and continents, and are also found even in Arctic snow conditions. But frogs give preference to tropical forest zones, where there is simply a huge variety of species and subspecies of such amphibians. Frogs mainly inhabit fresh water bodies.
True frogs are members of the Anura family, which are almost ubiquitous except for South America, southern Australia and New Zealand territory. Common frogs (Rana temporaria) and pond frogs (Rana esculenta) live mainly in our country.
It should be remembered that the distribution of some subspecies and species of frogs may well be limited natural causes, including rivers, mountain ranges and deserts, as well as man-made factors represented by freeways and canals.
In tropical conditions, the diversity of amphibian species is much greater than in zones that are characterized by cold or temperate climate. Certain species and subspecies of frogs are able to live even in salt waters or beyond the Arctic Circle..
frog diet
Insectivorous frogs belong to the category of predatory animals. Such amphibians eat with great pleasure a large number of mosquitoes, as well as all kinds of butterflies and small invertebrates. Particularly large adult insectivorous individuals do not disdain even more impressive prey in size, which can be represented by some species of animal frogs and relatively small relatives of their own.
It is interesting! Frogs of many species are of great benefit to people. They actively destroy and eat a lot of worms, bugs and insects that are harmful and dangerous to humans and plants.
Hunting for their victims is carried out by frogs with the help of a sticky and rather long tongue, which deftly catches midges, dragonflies, moths and other winged animals directly on the fly. Among the currently existing species and subspecies of frogs, omnivorous amphibians are also known, which are happy to eat fruits or berries.
Perhaps there are not so many lovers of amphibians in the world, although it is completely incomprehensible why these funny animals are worse than others. Moreover, the variety of tailless amphibians is so huge that you can choose a pet for your home aquaterrarium for every taste.
Keeping various frogs, toads, salamanders and newts (amphibians or amphibians) in home terrariums is becoming more and more popular. The variety of shapes and colors of these animals attracts more and more attention of pet lovers. It should be borne in mind that most amphibians are night image life and can make quite loud sounds. That is why poison dart frogs (Dendrobatidae) are especially popular, leading a daytime lifestyle, making melodious, not loud sounds that have various colors and unusual behavior.
Dominican tree frog
Now very popular with fans Dominican tree frog. She has a clumsy body, an incredibly wide head and a huge mouth. Will add pleasant experience large bulging eyes, warty skin, which on the head grows to the skull and is therefore motionless. Their color changes not only depending on the temperature and humidity of the surrounding world, but even on their mood. Unlike other amphibians, Dominican tree frogs are predatory.
australian tree frog
In outline, it somewhat resembles the Dominican, but does not look so intimidating. Her back is bright green, her belly is white, and her eyes are golden. During the mating season, it acquires a sky-turquoise color. But if the Australian tree frog is capable of pleasing the eye even to lovers of the exotic, then its musical abilities are very doubtful. The voice of the male resembles the distant barking of irritated dogs. The voice of the female is louder and more shrill.
So during your absence, the aquaterrarium can be placed near front door- scare off thieves. Just do not feed such a tree frog just before the “watchdog”. After a hearty dinner, she will sit down to “meditate” for a long time, comically folding her front paws.
Dart frogs or poison frogs
For the most part, dart frogs are very poisonous land animals. For example, ten milligrams of the dry poison of the terrible leaf climber can kill four million mice. However, healthy human skin for their poison is almost impenetrable. You should only be wary of getting it on the mucous membranes or wounds. Therefore, some lovers still dare to keep poison dart frogs at home - they are attracted by their unusually bright colors, interesting behavior and daytime lifestyle.
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Sexually mature males actively and jealously guard “their” area, although sometimes it is just some kind of bush. Arrow flies breed throughout the year. The male mates with several females, and then independently cares for a dozen clutches at the same time. Caring for clutches is extremely difficult: the eggs must be constantly moistened with water, the hatched tadpoles must be transferred to the water and constantly fed, otherwise they begin to devour each other.
Smooth clawed frog or aibolit frog
In ordinary aquariums, together with agile big fish you can keep a smooth clawed frog. This is a small - up to 8 cm - creature with a small head, short blunt muzzle, eyes turned upwards. Near the eyes is a short tactile thread. The hind limbs are strong, muscular, with dark claws designed to tear prey. Forelegs with long toes without webs. Along the body there are depressions, densely covered with hairs. Frogs of this species are brown or pinkish-orange, similar to the skin color of a European.
They live and feed only in water. And their skin secretions cleanse aquarium water and even able to cure fish from infectious diseases. External similarity with clawed frogs can be traced in aquatic African. But they are thinner, and the muzzle is pointed, and at its end are nostrils. In addition, this frog is only up to 4 cm in size. Any decorative aquariums with fish, but with a depth of not more than 40 cm. They usually do not leave the water. But still it is worth covering the aquarium so that the frogs do not jump out.
red-eyed tree frog
red-eyed tree frog(Agalychnis callidryas) Nightmare: toad. In the conditions of an aquaterrarium, toads differ in their unpretentiousness to living conditions. These are typical semi-aquatic amphibians. There are only three types of them: red-bellied, yellow-bellied and Far Eastern (Japanese). The size of an adult toad usually does not exceed 5 cm in length. The color of their back is brown, almost black or gray, and the abdomen is bright. The mucous tubercles of the toad secrete a frothy secret - frinocin - a rather strong poison for small animals and birds. But for humans, it is not dangerous.
These amphibians are diurnal, most active life is spent in water. They feed mainly on invertebrates and insects. With the onset of darkness, the toads "sing" - monotonously and melancholy. The voices of many fireworks sound like a concert of low-pitched spiritual instruments. Their singing is so bewitching that legends attribute their voices heard in swamps and lakes to spirits and various evil spirits. Therefore, it is worth thinking carefully: are you and your neighbors ready for such night tests?
lake frog
One of the largest amphibians European territory- lake frog. Her body can reach 17 cm, and weight 1 kg. They jump high - this property must be taken into account when making or selecting an aquaterrarium. Frogs are voracious animals. They eat well arthropods, mollusks, slices of fish and meat. In an aquaterrarium, a temperature difference is desirable for them: 30-35 degrees Celsius in a heated corner and up to 18 degrees Celsius in a cold one. The lake frog, like other green frogs, is called edible - in some European countries they are traditionally used as food.
moor frog
This is a representative of brown frogs. Anhydrous, but often irrigated “house” is suitable for them. At home, it is enough to simply spend the wintering of such pets, as they hibernate on land. After wintering, they have mating season, and that's when they fabulously transformed. Gray-brown creatures change color for a while. In a matter of days, almost before your very eyes, they will become unusually prettier: they will become silver-lilac, blue. But after mating, molting begins - the males tear off pieces of the “wedding” suit from themselves, stuff them with their paws into their mouths and eat their own skin.
spadeweed
Toads need a very spacious home. The soil in it should not be loose - otherwise your pets will sit in it without a break all daylight hours. The spadefoot is considered an unsurpassed digger. It completely digs into the ground in 1-3 minutes, and does it backwards - backwards and desperately working with its hind legs, it disappears underground. The spadefoot rarely gives a voice, and this is undoubtedly her positive quality because her timbre is very peculiar and high.
This toad makes a very loud screech. It is curious that the tadpoles of the spadefoot reach a length of 10 cm, while the parents - only 5-6 cm. Another representative of the toads - gray - is distinguished by longevity: 30 years or more.
tree frogs
Among tree frogs there are babies the size of a fingernail and “giants” - up to 12 cm. Male tree frogs are desperate screamers. During vocalization, their neck swells strongly. BUT main feature tree frog - the ability to masterfully climb and jump. The high glass walls of their dwelling will not become an obstacle either, because there are suction cups on their paws. They are able to jump from the wall of the aquaterrarium to the opposite one. And tree frogs are wonderful chameleons.
Long-livers among amphibians can be considered the gray toad, whose life expectancy is 26 years, the comb python - up to 28 years, the toad - 20 = 29 years, the tree frog -22 years, grass and lake frog- 18 years old, spurred -15 years old. So if you already have a frog, take care of it!
frogs- family tailless amphibians, a contemporary of both man and dinosaur. frog imprinted in itself the longest experience of the struggle for existence in the history of life on land. This led to the universality of her anatomy and physiology, providing a unique adaptation to life in the border zone. Like millions of years ago, a frog begins its life in the water. A tadpole develops from an egg laid in water. So far, it differs little from fish fry. But then a series of transformations begins, consisting of about thirty transitional stages, which helps the frog to adapt to life on land, and the tadpole turns from a "fish" into a land animal (metamorphosis).
Highly interest Ask: What helps a frog adapt to life on land?
And it helps the frog to adapt to life on land, all those adaptations that appeared during the transformation of the tadpole into a frog. First, the tadpole has its hind legs, and then the front legs. The lungs begin to develop. After a while, it rises to the surface of the water and swallows air, the tail gradually shortens. The tadpole becomes an amphibian, after which it comes ashore. And lives on land, adapting as it should.
From now on, the frog will live on land, more precisely, on the border of land and water. Constant connection with aquatic environment imposes on the biology of frogs whole line characteristic features. The tadpole breathed through gills, a adult frog breathes through the mouth, lungs and skin. Such a large set of respiratory organs is characteristic only of amphibians. While the frog is in the water, it breathes through the skin, and when it is on land, it breathes through the mouth and lungs. Universal and circulatory system. Two parts of the heart work in water, and mixed blood flows through the body. On land, the left atrium is connected to the work, and the blood that is already purely arterial, saturated with oxygen, enters the brain. Thus, with each dive, the frog's respiratory organs are instantly turned off.
While the frog is on the ground It's easy to catch her. And you can't catch it in the water. The hind limbs are long, consist of ten bones - levers. And the forelimbs are a superbly “thought out” device for a “soft landing”. The skin of frogs is naked and covered with mucus, and therefore their activity depends on humidity and air temperature. It hunts at dusk, as the coolness increases. In cold and dry weather, frogs hide in shelters.
When it's winter time, frog sinks to the bottom.
The color of the body is affected not only by temperature, but also by the background color, and illumination, and humidity. Frogs perceive changes in these factors directly with their skin.
One of the most original adaptations to living conditions in the border zone between land and water is frog hearing aid. It turns out that she perceives sound signals through three channels. In the air sound waves are captured by the cells of the inner ear, through the tympanic membrane and the ear bone. Sounds propagating through the soil are perceived by the bones and muscles of the limbs and transmitted through the bones of the skull to the inner ear.
Frog looks at the world impassively with two large round eyes. They may not be very expressive, but what is unique is undeniable. When studying frog eyes it turned out that the retina analyzes information using special cells. They were called detectors - "detecting". Each type of detector reacts only to strictly defined properties of objects, such as the movement of a stimulus in a certain direction. Each type of stimulus is transmitted along its own optic nerve fiber to a certain layer of the brain. In the brain, the received information is processed, and the animal perceives the object as a whole.
frogs unpretentious and illegible in food, they can starve for a day or a week. They eat butterflies, bees, wasps, and other moving insects. eats fish fry.
For many decades, physiologists have used frogs in a variety of experiments. Observations and experiments with them made it possible to make so many important discoveries that they even erected in Paris and Tokyo frog monuments.
Tree frogs, or tree frogs
A small and very graceful frog; found in Ukraine and the Caucasus, lives on trees and shrubs. She can hold on tightly to the foliage and move along it due to the fact that her fingers are equipped with suction pads at the ends. The color of the tree frog is excellently adapted to the environment in which it lives: it is usually grassy green - the same color as the foliage, but in a different environment, the color can change to brown or grayish. Male tree frogs scream very loudly, inflating the resonator. For spawning, tree frogs descend into water bodies, but remain there for a very short time and soon return to the trees again.
Surinam frog
bright coloring surinamese frog warns predators that an attempt to feast on it will end in death. The Indians of the Amazon Basin smear frog poison, one of the deadliest, on arrowheads. The poison strikes nervous system and causes blood clotting.
goliath frog
They live in waterfalls of fast and full-flowing rivers. They need a lot of moisture, so frogs avoid places with strong sun exposure. Water should be abundantly saturated with oxygen, do not contain tannic acid and be no warmer than 23 degrees and no colder than 16-17 degrees. These giant frogs live secretly, spending most of the day in the water or among the rocks, which are very difficult to reach. Catching a goliath is extremely difficult, it requires great dexterity and skill. locals catch them with a net with small cells. The net is thrown from afar so that the frog does not see it.
align="justify"> Externally goliath looks like common frog. Its wrinkled skin is greenish-brown on its back, its belly and inner side paws - yellowish and whitish. Eye diameter can reach 3.3 centimeters, the ear is small, without a shell. These frogs do not make any sound. Some researchers evaluate maximum weight of goliaths six kilograms, and the length, if the hind legs are extended, is 60 centimeters. True, these figures are somewhat overestimated, but there is no doubt that the goliath is the largest of existing frogs. There is no noticeable difference between male and female, although the latter is slightly larger.
Photo frog Goliath
For a long time, the development of goliaths remained unknown, scientists searched in vain for their tadpoles. But somehow a female in one of the terrariums laid her eggs. They were five to six millimeters in diameter. Now scientists knew what the caviar of these frogs looked like, and began to look for it wherever the goliaths lived. With great difficulty, it was possible to find the caviar, which was attached to the bush of the plant.
female goliath starts laying eggs in the dry season. For 5-6 days, she lays more than 10 thousand eggs. Development from egg to frog lasts approximately 70 days. The tadpole is at first 8 millimeters long, but at the age of 45 days it reaches its maximum size - 4.8 centimeters. After that, the tail falls off.
Studies of the stomach contents of goliaths have shown that they feed mainly on insects, but do not disdain crayfish, mollusks, amphibian insects and spiders. Even the remains of small rodents were found in their stomachs.
At first, the main enemies of frogs are birds and, possibly, some fish. Later, goliaths become prey for crocodiles.
The locals of Cameroon and Rio Muni, where these frogs live, consider their meat to be excellent. It is white and tender, and the front paws are a special delicacy...
So far, you can be sure of the safety of these representatives of the animal world. Catching goliaths is very difficult, and they live in places almost inaccessible to humans. But since it concerns a species that can hardly adapt to other conditions of life, everything must be done to preserve goliath frogs.
Frog Goliath - video
Increasingly, frogs have been adopted as pets. For home content a large number of species of these amphibians are suitable, we briefly wrote about some of them. And how a frog behaves at home, what is its life expectancy, how to keep and feed frogs you will read in this article.
How long do frogs live in nature and in captivity
Under natural conditions, the skeletal chronology method is used to estimate the life span of a frog. The use of this technology makes it possible to estimate individual growth rates, including the onset of puberty.
Amphibian studies on the rhythm of annual growth have shown that most frogs live for about 10 years in nature. However life cycle certain types may reach 30 years. So gray toads there are twenty-six-year-olds, and toads can live from 20 to 29 years. Tree frogs reach an average of twenty-two years of age, and lake and grass frogs have a life expectancy of about eighteen years.
How long do frogs live at home? With proper care, which includes fluctuations in temperature and humidity, quality nutrition and the absence of stress, amphibians reach the age of 15 years. However, there is also a long-liver - a case of a frog that lived for thirty-two years was registered.
Housing for domestic frogs.
Different types of amphibians require different habitat options. There are those that predominantly live in the water, and there are those, for example, Pacman, who prefer land. Depending on this, a dwelling is chosen.
There are aquaterrariums of different volume and quality. For a pair of clawed frogs, an aquarium with a volume of 20-25 liters is enough. For more large species may need an aquarium up to 75 cubic meters. But for hymenochiruses, two liters of water is enough.
Tanks can be ground and water, as well as mixed. Suitable for wood tank.
In addition, it is important that the aquarium has a lid or mesh on top for good ventilation and the safety of the amphibian.
Large pebbles, sand, pine bark, pine or cedar shavings are used as soil.
You can add large stones and other types of shelters as a "house".
It is important to maintain a constant temperature of 22-25⁰C. Although some frogs prefer that part of the water is warm, and in the other corner of the container the temperature drops to 10⁰C.
For landscaping an aquarium, it is necessary to plant hard-leaved plants in pots. Otherwise, they will be dug out of the ground. Some owners put next to the aquarium houseplants with hanging leaves - the shoots are placed in a container, and the roots of the plant are preserved.
There must be a compressor, but moderately powerful, so that there are areas with stagnant water.
The degree of illumination depends on the lifestyle and habitat of the frog in natural conditions. For land species or active in the daytime, more illumination is needed than for nocturnal and water-preferring individuals.
Feeding aquarium amphibians
A frog at home requires a careful diet. Almost all frogs feed on insects - crickets, grasshoppers, worms. However, larger representatives of amphibians need more protein food. In wildlife, they can eat small invertebrates, mice, fish. At home, it is permissible to include meat and shrimp in the diet.
Feeding behavior differs between families and even between species. Some representatives have a good sense of smell and touch - they will smell food from afar. Other amphibians will need to bring food right under their noses.
The frequency of eating is possible from three crickets a day to two times a week. Some frogs are prone to overeating. For example, xenopuses. Therefore, the food eaten must be strictly controlled.
Permits for keeping amphibians in captivity
In some countries, a license is required to keep a frog at home. This is especially true for endangered species.
But in most states, apart from the desire of the future owner of the amphibian and his knowledge of the rules for keeping a particular representative of the frogs, nothing is needed.
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class amphibians
Amphibians are vertebrates associated with both water and terrestrial environments.
§ 45. Features of the external structure and movement of the frog in connection with the habitat
Frog habitat.
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