Creature Feature #269: Ghost Frog

The Ghost Frog Family consists of seven species found in South Africa. He is typically found in or around fast-moving streams. His body is slightly flattened, allowing him to squeeze into cracks during the day. As dusk falls, he comes out to forage, using his has large toe discs to help him cling to the rocks as he hunts for insects, arthropods and smaller frogs. The tadpoles' mouthparts are modified into large suckers, so that they can remain in one place while feeding on algae. Due to their limited range, all species are threatened by environmental degradation and also the virulent fungal disease, chytridiomycosis, which is decimating frog populations worldwide.

Creature Feature #191: Edible Frog

The Edible Frog is a common European frog, named for the role he plays in the food industry, specifically frog legs. He is not a natural species, but in fact a hybrid between two other species: the Pool Frog and the Marsh Frog. These species hybridise naturally and are fertile, but when Edible Frog hybrids breed with one another, the offspring are often malformed. He is spread throughout Europe and active during the day. His main diet consists of insects and other arthropods, but he has been known to engage in cannibalism and will even eat small birds.

Creature Feature #152: Dart Frog

The Dart Frog gets his name from the poison he secretes, which was once used by the indigeneous people of the Amazon to tip their darts. Only four species are actually used for this purpose, and the toxicity of the frogs ranges from fairly minimal (as in this Imitating Dart Frog) to lethal (the Golden Poison Frog, possibly the most toxic living animal). This poison is secreted though the skin and protects the frog against predation. To further advertise this poison, the Dart Frog is brightly coloured. These toxins may be related to their diet of various poisonous arthropods: such as ants, centipedes and mites, in which the various toxins are not synthesized but instead become concentrated. Like all of the world's frogs, the Dart Frogs are under threat from chytrid fungus, a widespread and lethal disease that could see frogs vanishing forever.