Frog

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the group of amphibians. For other uses, see Frog (disambiguation).
Frogs
Temporal range:
Early Jurassic - Present, 2000 Ma
Pre

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S
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Various types of frogs.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Amphibia
Clade:
Salientia
Anura
Order:

Dumril, 1806 (as Anoures)

Suborders
Archaeobatrachia
Mesobatrachia
Neobatrachia


List of Anuran families

Native distribution of frogs (in green)

Frogs are a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians
composing the order Anura (Ancient Greek an-, without + oura, tail). The oldest fossil "protofrog" appeared in the early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock dating suggests their
origins may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely
distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of
species diversity is found in tropical rainforests. There are approximately 4,800 recorded species,
accounting for over 85% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse
vertebrate orders.
The body plan of an adult frog is generally characterized by a stout body, protruding eyes, cleft
tongue, limbs folded underneath, and the absence of a tail in adults. Besides living in fresh water
and on dry land, the adults of some species are adapted for living underground or in trees. The
skin of the frog is glandular, with secretions ranging from distasteful to toxic. Warty species of
frog tend to be called toads but the distinction between frogs and toads is based on informal
naming conventions concentrating on the warts rather than taxonomy or evolutionary history;
some toads are more closely related to frogs than to other toads. Frogs' skins vary in colour from
well-camouflaged dappled brown, grey and green to vivid patterns of bright red or yellow and
black to advertise toxicity and warn off predators.