Frog Facts

Imagine traveling back through time millions of years to the age of the dinosaurs. Pterodactyls glide above a soggy marsh. Nearby, a colossal 80-ton Brachiosaurus munches on a tree. On the ground at its feet, something strangely familiar hops by: a frog.

Surprised? Few people realize just how ancient frogs are. For 190 million years, the ancestors of modern frogs have roamed (if not ruled) the earth, looking much the same as they do today. The secret to their success is their amazing adaptability.

As amphibians, frogs have one webbed foot in each of two worlds. The advantages of this double life are clear to see: Are land predators giving you trouble? Dive into the water. Not enough to eat in the pond? Hop out and see what they're serving on shore.


Frogs have a reputation for leaping that is well deserved. Launched by their long legs, many frogs can leap up to twenty times their body length. (That would be about a 100-foot jump for you or me!) The longest frog jump on record was made by a frog named Santjie at a frog derby held in South Africa. Santjie bested the competition with a jump of 33 feet 5.5 inches


The biggest kind of frog is the Goliath frog (Conraua goliath). They come from Cameroon in West Africa. Their bodies can reach the size of nearly a foot (30 cm) long. The Conraua Goliath weighs as much as a large housecat, about 3.3 kilos!


If a frog eats enough fireflies, its stomach will glow. A frog or toad that has swallowed fireflies will glow from the light produced by the insects. The toad itself did not actually glow but Tom could see the firefly's glow through the toad's body.


More Frog Facts.