Frog is the common name for amphibians in the order Anura. Adult frogs
are characterised by long hind legs, a short body, webbed digits,
protruding eyes and the absence of a tail. Most frogs move by jumping
or climbing. Most frogs have a semi-aquatic lifestyle. They typically
lay their eggs in puddles, ponds or lakes, and their larvae, called
tadpoles, have gills and develop in water. Adult frogs follow a
carnivorous diet, mostly of arthropods, annelids and gastropods. Frogs
are most noticeable through their call, which can be widely heard
during the mating season. The distribution of frogs ranges from tropic
to subarctic regions, with most of the species found in tropical
rainforests. With over 5,000 species described, they are among the
most diverse groups of vertebrates. However, their declining numbers
are increasingly giving cause for concern. A distinction is often made
between frogs and toads on the basis of their appearance, prompted by
the convergent adaptation of so-called toads to dry environments;
however, this distinction has no taxonomic basis.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1513:
Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León first sighted Florida,
purportedly while searching for the Fountain of Youth in the New
World.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Florida)
1794:
The United States Navy was established.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy)
1958:
Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev)
1964:
The Good Friday Earthquake and subsequent tsunamis devastated
Anchorage, Alaska.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Earthquake)
1977:
Two Boeing 747 airliners collided in the Tenerife disaster on Tenerife
of the Canary Islands, killing 583 people in one of the worst aircraft
accidents in aviation history.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_disaster)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"All knowledge is oriented toward some object and is influenced in its
approach by the nature of the object with which it is pre-occupied.
But the mode of approach to the object to be known is dependent upon
the nature of the knower." -- Karl Mannheim
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Mannheim)