Spotter's Guide – Common Frog

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Spotter's Guide – Common Frog Spotter’s guide – common frog Darker patch behind eye Ridges on back Adult common frog lighter in colour Pointed snout Striped back legs Quick facts Scientific name: Rana temporaria Habitat Urban and rural areas, both in ponds and on land Behaviour Active during the day and will hibernate over winter Vital statistics Body size: 6 – 10 cm Colour: Usually an olive-green or brown, but sometimes yellow, pinkish or black Characteristics: l Dark patch or mask behind the eyes l Dark stripes on long back legs l Irregular marks on its back l Smooth and damp skin l Webbed back feet Movement: l Adults move in a hopping motion l Tadpoles are found swimming in ponds Identifying lifecycle stages Common frog Common toad Frogspawn Toadspawn Females lay spawn in clumps, usually in fairly These strings can be seen wrapped around shallow water. vegetation. Tadpole Tadpole Frog tadpoles group together when they first Toad tadpoles are always black and can form hatch. shoals or groups. As tadpoles develop their appearance changes from black to mottled brown. Froglet Toadlet Froglets are olive-green in colour, and may still Toadlets can range in colour from black to have tadpole features such as a tail. brown, and may still have toadlet features such as a tail. They can be found in ponds or on land. They can be found in ponds or on land. Identifying other similar-looking amphibians Natterjack toad Common toad (Very rare) Body size: 8 – 13 cm Body size: Up to 8 cm Colour: Brown to olive-brown Colour: Green, brown or cream Characteristics: Characteristics: l Rough, dry and warty skin l Thin yellow stripe down the centre of its back l Broad head and blunt nose l Short legs l Unwebbed back feet l Dark warts on its back with yellow or red tips l Horizontal oval pupil in eyes Movement: Crawling Movement: Crawling Pool frog Edible frog (Very rare) (Introduced) Body size: 5 – 11 cm Body size: Up to 6 cm Colour: Green and brown Colour: Brown or green-brown Characteristics: Characteristics: l Long legs l l Inflatable vocal pouches Males have vocal sacs outside their cheeks l Yellow stripe down the centre of its back to produce a high-pitched sound Marsh frog Midwife toad (Introduced in Kent and East Sussex) (Introduced in Bedfordshire) Body size: Up to 15 cm Body size: 5 cm Colour: Brown or green-brown Colour: Grey with small dark spots Characteristics: Characteristics: l Raised ridges running down both sides of l High, clear whistling call the body l Males may carry eggs around their back legs l Loud ‘quacking’ call Want to find out more about other species that need your help? Check out our Naturehood spotter’s guide series. House Hedgehog sparrow Small tortoiseshell Common frog butterfly Early bumblebee https://naturehood.uk Illustrations supplied by Chris Shields.
Recommended publications
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    Environ Sci Pollut Res DOI 10.1007/s11356-016-7297-6 RESEARCH ARTICLE Phalangeal bone anomalies in the European common toad Bufo bufo from polluted environments Mikołaj Kaczmarski1 & Krzysztof Kolenda 2 & Beata Rozenblut-Kościsty2 & Wioletta Sośnicka 2 Received: 7 March 2016 /Accepted: 20 July 2016 # The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Every spring, many of amphibians are killed by ximately 20 % from the rural and semi-urban sites. In partic- motor vehicles on roads. These road-killed animals can be ular, we found hypertrophic bone cells, misaligned intercellu- used as valuable material for non-invasive studies showing lar substance, and irregular outer edges of bones. We suggest the effect of environmental pollution on amphibian popula- that these malformations are caused by different pollution, e.g. tions. The aims of our research were to check whether the with heavy metals. phalanges of road-killed toads may be useful as material for histological analysis, and whether various degrees of human Keywords Amphibians . Phalangeal bone . Poland . impact influence the level in bone abnormalities in the com- Pollution . Roadkilling . Skeletochronology . Urban area mon toad. We also examined whether the sex and age struc- ture of toads can differ significantly depending in the different sites. We chose three toad breeding sites where road-killed Introduction individuals had been observed: near the centre of a city, the outskirts of a city, and a rural site. We collected dead individ- Current knowledge widely indicates a direct relationship be- uals during spring migration in 2013. The sex of each individ- tween anthropogenic pressures and the deteriorating environ- ual was determined and the toes were used to determine age mental state and/or global extinction of amphibian popula- using the skeletochronology method.
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  • Common Frog Rana Temporaria
    Common frog Rana temporaria Description Common frogs are common, widespread and easily recognisable amphibians. They have smooth, moist skin and long stripy legs. Common frogs are usually olive-green, although their colouration can be variable (from brown, yellow, cream or black, to pink, red, or lime-green). They have a dark patch (‘mask’) around the eye and eardrum, and often have other irregular black blotches over their body and limbs. They have large golden eyes with oval horizontal pupils. Frogs hop and jump rather than walk or crawl, and they are most active at night. They hibernate during the winter in pond mud or under piles of rotting leaves, logs or stones. Outside the breeding season, frogs are largely terrestrial and can be found in meadows, gardens and woodland. Breeding takes place in ponds, lakes, canals, and even wet grassland or puddles! Spawning usually occurs in January in the milder areas of the UK, but not until March to April in the North or upland areas. Mating pairs and masses of clumpy frogspawn can often be seen in waterbodies during this time. The eggs hatch into tadpoles within two to three weeks. What they eat Adult frogs eat snails, slugs, worms, insects and other invertebrates caught using their long sticky tongue. Young tadpoles feed on algae, but become carnivorous as they mature. Where and when to see them z Frogs can be spotted in ponds, lakes, canals, meadows, woodlands and gardens most commonly between February and October. z Look for frogspawn just below the surface of the water. Frogs lay a mass of jelly-like eggs, whereas toadspawn is produced in long strings.
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