CHAPTER XLI 

 THE ORDER OF FROGS AND TOADS 



EC A UDA TA 



The members of this Order are the most nu- 

 merous, most widely dispersed and the best known 

 of the amphibians. In all there are about 

 900 species ; and it may be added that the 

 habits of some of them are very strange 

 and interesting. 



In their modes of hfe, the frogs and 

 toads exhibit great di^•crsity of inclina- 

 tion. The tree-frogs live in trees, the toads 

 seldom leave dry land, the burrowing toads 

 burrow in the earth, and the water -frogs 

 live in water at least half the time. 



Some of these creatures begin active 

 life in water, as ugly, httle fish-like tad- 

 poles, and their transformation into the 

 perfect frogs may easily be watched from 

 beginning to end. In some of the toads, 

 however, the tadpole stage is passed in 

 the egg, and at hatching-time a fully devel- 

 oped but very minute toad emerges, and 

 begins to hop about. Others again develop 

 from the tadpole stage, much the same 

 as frogs. 



The larva of a species fairly typical of 

 this Order as a whole may be found in the 

 tadpole of any aquatic frog. It possesses 

 a big, purse-like head, — hke that of a 

 goose-fish, — and a long, eel-like tail, sur- 

 rounded by a continuous fin. At first 

 there is no sign of legs. The intestinal 

 canal is very long and simple, as befits 

 the vegetable diet of the creature. In 

 the transformation process, the tail is 

 absorbed into the body, and long before 

 it has disappeared, two pairs of logs have 

 grown out. The front legs are weak, but 

 the hind legs are long and powerful, and 

 being attached at the extreme end of the 

 body they have great freedom of move- 

 ment. They are adapted both for leap- 

 ing and swimming. 



broad, covered with a smooth skin, destitute of 

 scales, and there is no tail whatever. The mouth 



FROM T.\DPOLE TO FROG. 



.A. series of specimens showing the development of the Com- 

 mon Frog. Prepared by Raymond L. Ditmars. 



is wide and capacious. The tongue is not free. 

 Of the adult creature, the body is short and being attached at the sides to the lower jaw. 



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