Huge Frog Was Eating Machine

Huge Frog Was Eating Machine

Credit: Luci Betti-Nash / SUNY - Stony Brook

An illustration of the giant Cretaceous-era frog, Beelzebufo ampinga, next to the largest living frog on Madagascar, the Mantydactylus ampinga.

More Frogs Dying as Planet Warms

More Frogs Dying as Planet Warms

Credit: NatureServe

The Panamanian golden frog is one of more than 100 species of disappearing harlequin frogs.

Frog Survival 101: Fake a Mean Look

Frog Survival 101: Fake a Mean Look

Credit: David Cannatella

For nonpoisonous frogs, the trick to not becoming dinner is to look poisonous — but not too poisonous. Scientists studied frogs in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, and this non-toxic frog, Allobates zaparo, has colorful patterns that tell predators that it is toxic and would not make a good meal. Although A. zaparo can't actually back up this threat, its coloration fools predators into looking elsewhere for food.

Ultrasonic Frogs Croak in Secret

Ultrasonic Frogs Croak in Secret

Credit: Albert Feng

Chinese concave-eared torrent frogs have an ear for ultrasound, so other creatures don't hear them croak.

Frog Hops Back into Existence

Frog Hops Back into Existence

Credit: Carlos A. Rocha via Conservation International

The painted frog (Atelopus ebenoides marinkellei), from Colombia. The survival of the harlequin frog provides hope that other species might survive the killer fungus.

Warming Kicks Frogs While They're Down

Warming Kicks Frogs While They're Down

Credit: Steven M. Whitfield

Oophaga pumilio, the strawberry poison frog, is one of a number of species of amphibians and reptiles declining in lowland forests of Costa Rica.

Fungus Sex Is Threat to Frogs

Fungus Sex Is Threat to Frogs

Credit: Vance T. Vredenburg, UC Berkeley

A mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) at Milestone Basin in Sequoia National Park.

Lost Forest in Africa Yields New Species

Lost Forest in Africa Yields New Species

Credit: Andy Plumptre/Wildlife Conservation Society.

Researchers found two new species of frog on their expedition to a once lost forest in Africa.

Bizarre Amphibians Found Living on the Edge

Bizarre Amphibians Found Living on the Edge

Credit: Sathyabhama Das Biju, ZSL

The purple frog is a burrowing species that spends most of the year up to 13 feet (four meters) underground feeding on termites.

Tiny Newfound Frog Fits on a Fingertip

Tiny Newfound Frog Fits on a Fingertip

Credit: Alessandro Catenazzi, University of California, Berkeley

Noblella pygmaea on a fingertip. The frog is about 0.45 inches (11.4 millimeters) long.

Study: Farms Fuel Frog Deformities

Study: Farms Fuel Frog Deformities

Credit: Pieter Johnson/University of Colorado at Boulder

Infectious parasites cause missing limbs, extra limbs and other malformations in frogs--and farm watershed may be to blame.

'Bizarre!' Frog Tunes Ears to Specific Frequencies

'Bizarre!' Frog Tunes Ears to Specific Frequencies

Credit: Margaret Kowalczyk

Odorrana tormota frogs, shown here in an illustration, emit high-frequency ultrasound to compete with the din of their noisy surroundings.

Frog Embryos Actively Seek Oxygen

Frog Embryos Actively Seek Oxygen

Credit: Karen Warkentin.

Adult red-eyed treefrogs are the postcard-perfect mascot of tropical biology, but their eye-catching embryos get the cover of the November 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.

See-Through Frogs Discovered

See-Through Frogs Discovered

Credit: © Conservation International-Colombia/Photo by Marco Rada

A glass frog of the Nymphargus genus potentially new to science discovered in the mountains of the Darien in Colombia. Darien is a mountainous system isolated from the Andes Mountain range and is a recognized for its high biological diversity.

Frogs Find Home in Elephant Dung

Frogs Find Home in Elephant Dung

Credit: Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz

One of the species of frog (Sphaerotheca sp.) found in a pile of Asian elephant dung.

Poisonous 'Golden Frog' Discovered

Poisonous 'Golden Frog' Discovered

Credit: Conservation Leadership Programme

The newly-discovered golden frog of Supata could fit on the tip of your finger.

Frog Dozes in Mud for Years

Frog Dozes in Mud for Years

Credit: Sara M. Kayes

This burrowing frog (Cyclorana alboguttata) maximizes energy use to survive in a state of torpor for months or even years.

Nearly Extinct California Frog Rediscovered

Nearly Extinct California Frog Rediscovered

Credit: Adam Backlin, U.S. Geological Survey

USGS scientists found this adult mountain yellow-legged frog on June 10 in Tahquitz Creek, a rediscovered population of the endangered frog in the San Jacinto Wilderness, San Bernardino National Forest, California.

New Spiders and Frogs Discovered in Papua New Guinea

New Spiders and Frogs Discovered in Papua New Guinea

Credit: Steve Richards

A frog, Litoria sp., believed to be new to science, and which uses a loud ringing song to call for a mate, was discovered in a rainforest during a Conservation International (CI) led Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) expedition of Papua New Guinea's highlands wilderness in 2008.

Newfound Frog Species Threatened by Deadly Fungus

Newfound Frog Species Threatened by Deadly Fungus

Credit: Andrew Crawford/STRI

The newly describe species of frog, Pristimantis educatoris, was collected in El Cope, in Panama's Omar Torrijos National Park, is about 0.8 to 1.6 inches (2 to 4 centimeters) long and has expanded, round and even finger disks and toes that distinguish it from other, closely related species. Its eye color varies from blood red to yellow-orange above and dark purple to dark grey below. The pupil is horizontal.

World's Smallest Frog Packs Poison Punch

World's Smallest Frog Packs Poison Punch

Credit: A. Rodriguez and M. Vences.

The smallest frog in the world would fit (with room for a buddy) on your fingertip.

Solomon's Horned Frog

Solomon's Horned Frog

Credit: Fredrique Oliver

This horned frog is unique to the Solomon Islands.

Hybrid leaf frog

Hybrid leaf frog

Credit: © A. Gray

This frog is the offspring of two closely related species of endangered leaf frog.

Poison Dart Frog

Poison Dart Frog

Credit: Cesar Barrio-Amoros

Dendrobates leucomelas, a poisonous frog from Venezuelan Guiana, eats a special diet of ants and mites, which contain compounds that help the frog make its toxic secretions.

Convergent Evolution in Poison Frogs

Convergent Evolution in Poison Frogs

Credit: Valerie C. Clark

Poison frog Mantella madagascariensis. It derives its poison from a steady diet of alkaloid-rich ants. Image

Transitional Frog Lays Eggs on Water and Land

Transitional Frog Lays Eggs on Water and Land

Credit: Justin Touchon and Karen Warkentin

Mating yellow treefrogs (Dendropsophus ebraccatus) laying egg larvae in water. The egg masses can be at the water surface and under water.

Laos Home to Two New Frog Species

Laos Home to Two New Frog Species

Credit: Nikolai Orlov

The Rana compotrix, one of two new frog species found in Lao PDR.

Frog Shakes Its Booty to Deter Other Males

Frog Shakes Its Booty to Deter Other Males

Credit: M.S. Caldwell.

Truly arboreal frogs, red-eyed treefrogs spend most of their time in trees, with their limbs made for walking and their "hands" and "feet" adapted for grasping branches.

Awkward Primitive Frog Can Jump But Landing Is Belly Flop

Awkward Primitive Frog Can Jump But Landing Is Belly Flop

Credit: Richard Essner.

The primitive frog Ascaphus montanus can jump fine, but rather than a graceful landing this amphibian does a belly flop.

Tree Frogs Use Geometry to Hang On

Tree Frogs Use Geometry to Hang On

Credit: Julia Platter

Caption: Tree frog.

Bizarre Frog Has No Lungs

Bizarre Frog Has No Lungs

Credit: David Bickford

The first lungless frog has been discovered lurking in the jungles of Borneo.

Some Frogs Pee Out Junk From Their Bodies

Some Frogs Pee Out Junk From Their Bodies

Credit: Chris Tracy.

The Australian green tree frog (Litoria caerulea). It can apparently pee out surgical implants, shunting devices embedded in its their bladder, researchers find.

6 'Lost' Frogs Rediscovered in Haiti's Forests

6 'Lost' Frogs Rediscovered in Haiti's Forests
Macaya Breast-spot Frog, Eleutherodactylus thorectes, a Critically Endangered species in the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti. © Robin Moore/iLCP

In Deadly Frog and Bat Plagues, Eerie Similarities

In Deadly Frog and Bat Plagues, Eerie Similarities

Credit: A. Crawford

Panamanian marsupial frog, Hemiphractus fasciatus, getting "swabbed", or tested, for the presence of the microscopic fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatis, which is sweeping through Central America, decimating entire amphibian communities.

Pesticide Turns Male Frogs into Females

Pesticide Turns Male Frogs into Females

Credit: Tyrone B. Hayes, the University of California, Berkeley.

The pesticide atrazine can turn male frogs into females that are able to mate and successfully reproduce. Here, two male frogs mating. The larger animal on the bottom has been completely feminized by atrazine exposure and can produce viable eggs.

Frog Egg Cells Key Ingredient in Robotic Nose

Frog Egg Cells Key Ingredient in Robotic Nose

Credit: Yu Zeng/UC Berkeley.

Male spiny frogs from the tribe Paini sport spines and powerful forelimbs. The species Quasipaa boulengeri is from the mountains of Sichuan, China.

Endangered Tree Frog Bred In Captivity for the First Time

Endangered Tree Frog Bred In Captivity for the First Time

Credit: Brian Gratwicke, Smithsonian’s National Zoo

An adult La loma tree frog (Hyloscirtus colymba).

glass frog

glass frog

Credit: © Conservation International-Colombia/Photo by Marco Rada

Glass frog.

Emei music frog

Emei music frog

Credit: Jianguo Cui

An Emei music frog, native to southwest China.

Panamanian-Golden-Frog

Panamanian-Golden-Frog

Credit: Brian Gratwicke | Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

The Smithsonian's National Zoo maintains an active breeding program for the critically endangered Panamanian golden frog.

Froggy transport

Froggy transport

Credit: David Bickford, Nature

A male microhylid frog (Liophryne schlaginhaufen) with froglets on his back.