Rainforest Frogs | Frogs Are Green

Posts Tagged ‘Rainforest Frogs’

Goliath Frog – The World’s Biggest Frog

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Most frogs can fit in the palm of your hand, or even on the tip of your finger. But the Goliath frog (Conraua goliath), the world’s largest frog, may grow up to 3 feet long when it is stretched out and can weigh as much as a newborn baby, about 7 lbs (3.2 kg).

A Goliath frog with young friends (from Marginalia.ako.net.nz)

The Goliath frog’s greenish brown color helps to hide it among wet moss-covered rocks in fast-flowing rivers in the dense coastal rainforest of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in western Africa. Unlike most other frogs and toads, Goliath frogs have no vocal sac and so courtship does not involve displaying any calls. They mainly eat crabs, but will also eat insects and smaller frogs. The Goliath frog can live up to 15 years.

Because Goliath frogs live in such a small area of the rainforest, they are highly vulnerable to habitat loss through logging and clearance of forest for agricultural land. The construction of dams threatens the breeding habitat of these frogs. The frogs have been heavily collected for zoos and the pet trade, but Goliath frogs don’t breed or survive well in captivity. Goliaths are also highly prized as delicacy by local people.

The IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature) sites Goliath frogs as an endangered species because of a 50% decline in population size in the last three generations.

Goliath frog image from animals.uua.cn

Mbo tribesmen believe the frogs are wizards of sacred waterfalls. The only real hope for these amphibian wizards is the preservation of their rainforest home.

Tags: African frogs, biggest frog on earth, Conraua goliath, earth's biggest frog, endangered frogs, giant frog, gigantic frogs, goliath frog, International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, Rainforest Frogs, world's biggest frog
Posted in Deforestation and frogs, Frogs and the Rainforest, Learn about Frogs | 3 Comments »

Many thanks, and a red-eyed tree frog for you (rerun)

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Susan and I are hosting family and friends this week and so will be re-running a few posts from this past year. It’s been a HOT summer in the NYC area. We thought we’d re-post a holiday post to remind us of cooler days ahead. Also, if you’re a teacher this is a nice little poster to put up in your classroom in September. This post is originally from November 2009.

We have a lot to be grateful for at FROGS ARE GREEN. We’ve received over 10,000 visitors since we started the blog back in May. (Update: we are now up to 4500 visitors a month!). We are so grateful for your comments and for your participation in our blog.

As a token of our thanks, Susan designed a poster of our mascot, the Red-Eyed Tree Frog, that you can download and print out for FREE (in three different sizes). We hope you enjoy it and will put up a copy at your home, school, or office to spread the message about our amphibian friends.

Don’t forget to check our galleries of our photo contest photos, wonderful frog art from kids, and photos of wild backyards! (Click on the pictures in the right column of the blog. Feel free to send us your pictures to be included, too!)

Click here and it will take you to the download page.

Update 8/10: We have two contests going on right now—a photo contest and a kids’ art contest. Summer is a good time to take pictures of frogs and to do some drawing, so please consider entering! See Contest link at top of page.

Tags: free educational materials for teachers, free poster, free poster red-eyed tree frog, frog classroom poster, frog educational materials, Learn about Frogs, rainforest frog poster, Rainforest Frogs, red-eyed tree frog
Posted in Frog posters, Frogs and the Rainforest, Learn about Frogs, Rainforest Frogs | No Comments »