Frogs

Frogs can live anywhere on Earth, ranging from tropical environments all the way to subarctic climates. Most species of frogs, of which there are an estimated excess of 5,000, live in tropical rain-forests. Around 88% of the entire amphibian species is comprised of frogs, having the order Anura, containing 33 different families in the order.

The only other two groups in amphibians are salamanders and caecilians, making frogs very unique from the other two in regards to development and bodily function, with salamanders and caecilians being very close to one another in retrospect. First off, frogs are born with tails, as tadpoles, also known as polliwogs in some parts, and lose them as they mature. Secondly, the hind legs on frogs are engineered to jump. Frogs are renowned for their hopping abilities, unlike their cousins who are built to run.

Frogs come into this world as eggs, being laid with countless thousands of brother and/or sister eggs. Once hatched, which can contain some very bizarre methods including the mother frog actually storing young in her stomach or vocal sac and voluntarily changing the way her body functions to protect her offspring, the life of continuous predation dodging begins. In an effort to not fall victim of an early grave, some frogs develop poison to deter the predator. Ranging from unpleasantly toxic to loopy hallucinogenic, poisonous frogs store the content in sacs behind the eyes, and the toxin can come from a variety of sources. From creating their own to acquiring it from the food they eat, frogs have developed a nearly perfect system of self defense. Third world humans in African Tribes have utilized local poisonous frogs, by rubbing their darts into the poison sacs, and use them as makeshift tranquilizers when hunting, without harming the frogs themselves.

During the adolescent stage of frogs, as tadpoles, they actually have gills, and develop fully submerged in water. These gills slowly seal, as does the tail falls off, and eventually the frog is forced to relocate to dry land. Frogs do tend to stay near or around lakes, ponds, or a generally wet/humid atmosphere, as their skin is designed to absorb oxygen and distribute it to the bloodstream, hence the ability to stay submerged for long periods of time.

Frogs do not have the gag reflex that most creatures have, and because of this they must do the unthinkable. Frogs actually force the stomach out of the body, through the mouth, clean it, and then gobble it back up again. Being such a strange practice, it deserves to be experienced. The only video found on this subject has text in Japanese, but it still displays this occurrence in full detail.