Leap Year Frog Blog! Frog Facts, Martha Stewart and More
NWF naturalist Dave Mizejewski made a special "Leap Day" appearance on The Martha Stewart Show this morning, bringing along a few camera-hoppy amphibians, including green frogs, American toads, a pickerel frog and a smoky jungle frog.
Watch Martha and Dave and their jumpy guests:
Frog Facts:
Frogs are amphibians. They start life under water breathing through gills and go through metamorphosis, growing legs and lungs.
Females are typically much larger than males.
All frogs are carnivorous and feed voraciously on insects and other small animals.
As predators they play a key role in controlling insects. They are also important for agriculture, gardening and also control of insect-borne diseases.
Frogs have very sensitive skin that absorbs liquids and gasses. This makes them "canaries in the coal mine" when it comes to monitoring how pollution or other changes are disrupting ecosystems.
Skin secretions of frogs protect them from disease and are being studied for human medical benefits.
One-third to one-half of all frog species are at risk of going extinct. About 120 species have gone extinct in recent years. This is the biggest potential mass extinction of one group of creatures since the dinosaurs.
Record the Ribbit!
You can help scientists know what frogs are hopping around your backyard by taking part in the National Wildlife Federation's Frogwatch USA™ program. It's fun for the whole family, a great way to get outside and it's a neat thing individuals can do to help frogs.
This year, NWF has teamed up the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Amphibian Ark and organizations around the world as an official partner of the "Year of the Frog" campaign to raise awareness about the alarming decline in global frog populations. Year of the Frog calls attention to the alarming decline of frogs globally from factors such as...
Global warming
Air and water pollution
Habitat destruction
Invasive species
Exotic pet trade
Chytrid fungus
Find out how you can be a part of Frogwatch USA in the Year of the Frog!
Are you guys aware that the food of frogs, insects, are sucked out of habitat areas like a vacuum cleaner by light pollution? Light pollution or LP is a consequence of the 24 hour day which destroys the "habitat" of nocturnal creatures. Everyone is too blinded by the light to see. Graham Cliff. http://www.lightpollution.org.uk
Posted by: Graham Cliff | March 01, 2008 at 06:41 PM
A casual glance at satellite images of the world taken at night reveals the true extent of the light pollution problem. Thousands of cities world-wide are cooking the atmosphere all night, every night, three hundred and sixty-five nights a year. Surely no-one can now deny that this is having an ecological effect. Insect populations in recent years have declined significantly because of this. Consequently it will have concomitant effects on higher order consumers, frogs being among them.
Posted by: Colin Henshaw | June 30, 2008 at 01:54 AM
Hey, id like to say that you should really post something abot The Year of the Frog....Did you know that 6,000 species of amphibians die a year? or that we need to stop pulluting to save them... or start SAVING THE FROGS....
Posted by: Jordan Ross | August 27, 2008 at 11:28 AM