Frog Repot

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate August 2001

download word file, 5 pages 5.0

my report on frogs Although tailed frogs and New Zealand frogs are different in their geographic location and their environments, they are classified together because of their more primitive features. Neither tailed frogs nor New Zealand frogs have eardrums or vocal sacs, but both of these species have at least the muscle groupings to control a small tail. The tailed frogs, not only have the muscle grouping, but the entire tail as well. These three features are unique among frogs. They set these species apart as members of a much older family.

Tailed frogs and New Zealand frogs have gray, brown, black, or pinkish skin. They generally only grow to one to two inches (two and five centimeters) long. These tiny frogs have slender bodies, with broad, flat heads. Like other frogs, their hind legs are much longer than their front legs. This construction aids the frogs in leaping and jumping from place to place.

At the ends of their legs, tailed frogs and New Zealand frogs have long, slender toes which are slightly webbed to help them swim. Like other amphibians, tailed frogs and New Zealand frogs are cold-blooded. This means their body temperatures are the same as the temperature of their surroundings.

Tailed frogs live in the fast flowing mountain streams of western North America. New Zealand frogs live on the damp soil of mountainsides in New Zealand. New Zealand frogs are the only frogs native to New Zealand.

Both of these species are carnivorous, or meat-eating frogs. They live on a diet of aquatic, or water-living, insects and other tiny invertebrates, or spineless creatures.

In addition to tailed frogs and New Zealand frogs living in different locations, they also have slightly different methods of giving birth. It is not known exactly when tailed frogs mate. Since they...