Page 98 - Atlas Of The World's Strangest Animals

98 ATLAS OF THE WORLD’S STRANGEST ANIMALS

out their trademark ‘jug-o-rum’ bellow.After mating,
American bullfrog habitats
females lay a momentous mass of tiny eggs – about 20,000
– which lie in a film on the water’s surface. Males fertilize
them and, within five days, tiny tadpoles begin to hatch
and take to the water.
Like most amphibians, frogs undergo an amazing
metamorphosis (form change) from tadpole to adult.As
newly hatched tadpoles, they have external gills, no legs
and an elongated body, tipped with a fleshy tail. Gills tend
to be the first part of the frog to change.These are quickly
covered with gill sacs, and lungs develop, which enable the
frogs to breathe out of water.Then, legs start to grow and
the tail is slowly reabsorbed into the body.
For bullfrogs, a complete metamorphosis can take from a
few months to a few years, depending on the locality.An
extended tadpole stage is good for the frog because it
produces a larger adult, which offers a better chance of
survival.American bullfrogs are amazingly long-lived.They
live longer in warmer regions, but 10 years is average and,
during that time, they’ll munch their way through a
Everything about the American bullfrog is big. On surprising variety of prey!
average, these fantastic, greenish-brown amphibians grow
to 7.6-15.2cm (3-6in), but there are records of them Big bellies
reaching 20cm (7.9in).That officially makes them North American bullfrogs are one of the most widely spread
America’s biggest frog. But what’s really remarkable is that species of North American amphibians.Although they
these big ‘bulls’ start out as an egg no larger than a bead! don’t tolerate cold very well, naturally, they can be found
Bullfrogs are naturally solitary creatures and gather in freshwater ponds, lakes and marshes from southern
together only during the mating season.Then, the males Québec, Canada, through to Mexico and Cuba.
stake out territories and begin to defend them by calling Populations are also found in Europe,Asia and Australia

Comparisons

When the weather turns cold,American bullfrogs huddle up and aestivation. By digging themselves into the mud and surrounding their
hibernate.Their African counterparts, Pyxicephalus adspersus,have a bodies in a water-tight sac, they sleep the summer away, awaking when
different problem.African summers are dry and amphibians need to the rains return.
stay wet to breathe. So, they enter an hibernation-like state called

African bullfrog American bullfrog

(c) 2011 Marshall Cavendish. All Rights Reserved.