During the long evolutionary process, the frogs adapted to live in any conditions, during the period of cold weather they easily fall into suspended animation and resurrect when heat comes. Many peoples revered her as a sacred animal, and in Japan she acts as a symbol of good luck. We will find out where to look for great luck, and our small study presents the largest frogs in the world. We will not forget about toads and tree frogs, which are also relatives of frogs.
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The Beelzebufo frog ampinga
Let's start with a fossil species whose remains were discovered in Madagascar in the late Cretaceous, about 60-70 million years ago.
Using fragments of the skeleton, it was possible to recreate the appearance of the view, as well as establish the dimensions. In length, this fossil giant reached 41 cm, and weighed about 4.5 kg.
It is believed that she was quite aggressive, attacking small animals from an ambush. Given the size of the frog, it can be assumed that in addition to lizards and small mammals, there were also newborn dinosaurs in its diet.
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Goliath Frog / Conraua goliath
With a body length of 32 cm, it is the largest frog in the world to date. Its hind limbs are so strong that a powerful frog jumps 3 meters in length. Note that the largest amphibian, the Chinese salamander, reaches 2 m in length.
The weight of a frog with such dimensions weighs more than 3 kg, and a giant frog lives in Africa. Like many species, the female is much larger than the male, and outwardly the goliath does not differ from ordinary frogs, but if you do not take into account the size.
It feeds on insects, small crustaceans, spiders. At the time of danger, it hides under water, and can be under water for 10 to 15 minutes.
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Bull Frog / Lithobates catesbeianus
The family of real frogs Lithobates catesbeianus is one of the largest species, as adult individuals grow up to 15-25 cm in length, and this is a rather heavy frog, whose weight is from 800 to 900 g.
A huge frog is found in South and North America, in Europe and Asia, and in Canada, the USA and China has long been of important commercial importance.
There are some species differences, depending on the habitat. Thus, Asian and Australian species differ from their American counterparts. A rather aggressive amphibian that can eat small alligators.
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Brazilian Slingshot / Ceratophrys aurita
Due to the unusual body color of these inhabitants of the Amazon basin, they also call the Slingshot mutable, and they grow up to 23 cm in length. They are easily identified by the peculiar processes above the orbits.
This species has very powerful jaws, capable of chewing on small rodents, birds, as well as other representatives of the amphibian world. Sexual dimorphism is also observed, in which the female differs from the male in large size.
Waiting for the victim, Brazilian slingshots burrow into the ground, leaving only the nose and eyes above the surface. Interestingly, these animals do not jump, but walk on the ground.
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Tiger Frog / Hoplobatrachus tigerinus
In the vast world of amphibians, these inhabitants of the swamps of Southeast Asia distinguish not only large sizes, but also exotic colors.
Their total length is from 15 to 17 cm, and the color varies from gray to olive green with dark spots. A yellow stripe runs along the back, and during the mating season, two blue balls around the neck are inflated in males during the croaking.
The local population eats these animals for food, and on the vast expanses of Asia there are even farms where tiger beauties are bred.
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Lake Frog / Pelophylax ridibundus
But this representative of the family is one of the most common on the planet, and is considered the largest frog in Russia.
Adults grow up to 13 cm, and weigh a little more than 200 grams. It is easy to recognize by its elongated body and slightly pointed muzzle. Through the whole body passes a bright streak of green. Color easily allows the frog to merge with the surrounding nature.
In colder latitudes, when cold weather sets in, they hibernate, and in non-freezing reservoirs they lead an active lifestyle all year round.
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Grass frog / Rana temporaria
Medium in size, growing from 6 to 10 cm, the frog lives throughout Europe and Asia. By population, it is the most common in Europe, and you can meet them from the islands of Britain to remote corners of Siberia.
Note that in Ireland this is the only species of frogs, others have not taken root. But in the Crimea and on the Mediterranean coast you will not meet them. It may be too dry and hot for them.
In nature, it distinguishes 4-6 subspecies, differing among themselves by insignificant signs, which formed depending on the habitat.
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Purple Frog / Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis
Having met such a miracle of nature, you will not immediately realize that this is a frog. The squat, roundish body has an unusual violet or purple color, and the limbs, unlike other species, are turned outward.
They grow to 9 cm, but the average size usually does not exceed 7 cm. Adult males are usually painted in purple-purple color, trying to merge with the ground.
In 2002, one of the publishers of a Chinese online magazine introduced this frog to the Top 20 of the ugliest creatures living on the planet, so even a photo of this “beauty” can scare.
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Common Garlic / Pelobates fuscus
The second name of the species is the Thick-headed grassy, and this large frog belongs to the large genus Garlic, and these frogs live almost throughout Europe and in Asia Minor.
They grow up to 8 cm in length, and weigh from 6 to 25 g. It differs from its counterparts in that it has a vertical pupil, and also a peculiar calcaneal tubercle of a spade-shaped shape.
Easily adapted to any natural conditions, and can live in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and leads mainly a land-based lifestyle.
Toads
From the world of frogs, we move to the kingdom of toads, which also sometimes amaze with their size.
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Toad aga / Rhinella marina
Zoological guides and Wikipedia report that Aga is the largest toad in the world, and the longest instance recorded in wildlife was 24 cm.
The weight of such a tropical giant is more than 1 kg, and the skin is all warty, covered with small tubercles. Males, as usual, are slightly smaller than females.
These toads live in Central and Latin America, and are considered the most poisonous of the toad family.
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Reed toads / Bufo marinus
By the species name it is clear that this species of toads chose reed forests as their place of deployment. The fact is that large temperature differences in such places are ideal for blood circulation and heat transfer of amphibians.
The size of these amphibians varies from 15 to 23 cm, and the largest specimen, nicknamed the “Prince”, weighed 3 kg and was 54 cm long. Now it is an exhibit of the Natural History Museum, but, in fact, an exception to the rule.
Unlike relatives, they have developed hind limbs, due to which they jump superbly.
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Blomberg Toad / Rhaebo blombergi
Another inhabitant of South America was named after the Swedish zoologist Rolf Blomberg, who in 1950 opened this wonderful view of toads to the world.
Along with Aga, she is considered one of the largest. After all, the body length of Blomberg's toad can reach 24 cm. It lives at an altitude of 3000 to 500 m above sea level along the Pacific coast.
He leads an active lifestyle with the onset of twilight and at night, and during the day he tries to hide from prying eyes.
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Green and brown toads
These species of toads are firmly entrenched in 3rd place, because their length reaches more than 20 cm, and about 15 cm wide.
They settled in Central Europe, in the south of Russia, and prefer quiet ponds, peat bogs, silt streams. The color of these amphibians is also surprising. Usually they are grassy in color with characteristic white stripes, but individuals with a lilac color are also found.
The view, of course, is unattractive, since the whole body is covered with warts, but they will not cause any harm to health. On the contrary, in the East they are bred to control pests.
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Mongolian Toad / Pseudepidalea raddei
This amphibian received its specific name Pseudepidalea raddei in honor of the Russian scientist Gustav Radde.
A rather large toad, growing up to 9 cm, lives in the South of Siberia, the Far East and in the countries of Southeast Asia. In Buryatia, the Mongolian toad is listed in the Red Book.
The color is variable, depending on the habitat, and the body is dense with a slightly pointed head. The upper torso is covered with small warts.
Interesting fact
Do you know that in some countries frogs are eaten? Moreover, often people eat them still alive. About this and other dishes of the world in which food is consumed alive, read the article on our site thebiggest.ru. In addition, you can find out a lot of interesting facts about frogs by clicking on the link.
Tree frogs
Among the frog world, tree frogs are the smallest, but small sizes compensate for the incredible color. But even among them there are relatively large specimens.
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Leggy Litoria / Litoria infrafrenata
In tropical forests off the coast of ponds you can find an unusual amphibian from the tree frog family with long legs. It is this feature that was noted by zoologists in the name of the species.
This frog grows up to 13 cm in length, and the color of the body and head is surprisingly bright grassy green. But their abdomen is bright.
He spends most of his life on trees, and more recently they discovered that they have nothing to do with the mountain climate, and they settle at an altitude of 1,400 m above sea level.
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Cuban tree frog / Osteopilus septentrionalis
The largest tree frog in the world, so there were specimens whose body length was 14 cm, although on average adult Cuban tree frogs grow to 9-12.5 cm.
The appearance is quite elegant, thanks to thin elongated fingers, at the ends of which there are roundish suction cups. It is they that allow tree frogs to easily move, and spend most of their life in dense reed beds of water bodies.
Propagate in the rainy season. The female lays from 100 to 1 thousand eggs, and the larva of the tadpole is born in a few hours.
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Marsupial tree frogs / Gastrotheca
A fairly common species of tailless amphibians, whose body length ranges from 3 to 10 cm. The head is moderately large, and in some species it is pointed or round.
They especially like to settle in tropical humid forests, sometimes reaching a height of 4,000 m above sea level. Using suction cups on the lamps freely climb trees.
The diet of marsupial tree frogs mainly includes insects. Some species prey on flying insects, bouncing high, but in most cases are content with those insects found on the leaves of trees.
Finally
So we looked at the largest representatives of the frog world, and found out how much the largest toad weighs, and which tree frog is considered the largest among its small relatives. Such a variety proves once again that nature is a creator with a rich imagination, creating though not quite attractive, but amazing creatures.
Article author: Valery Skiba